A Stitch in Time Part 1
by QuidditchSeason1977
Summary: Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Peter, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! My first fanfic, so comments appreciated. Might add more characters later. Rating may change
1. Chapter 1

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ What happens when two people accidentally create a stitch in time and end up being transported to the past? While you're thinking about that, I'm gonna add three Marauders, Lily, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, and the Harry Potter books.

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Prologue: The Stitch in Time**

**Hogwarts: June 20, 1999**

Ginny looked around at the recently repaired Gryffindor common room and sighed. She was glad the war was over, everybody was, but she was really worried about Harry. Somehow, he wasn't excited by the fact that he had defeated the Dark Lord, and she thought she knew why. He felt guilty that so many people were dead and seemed convinced that it was all his fault. She tried to help him, she really did, but he kept shutting her out. If only he had Remus or Sirius to help him. She snorted. What would be best was if his parents were there for him. But no, it had been nearly seventeen years now.

If only… no, there was no way she could go back in time and warn his parents about Wormtail. To do that she'd need a Time Turner and those had all been destroyed, plus there'd be no way she could get back. She sighed again and mentally told herself firmly that she would drop the subject.

Of course, as soon as she tried to do that, she found that she couldn't stop thinking about it. Her mind's wheels just kept turning and she even found herself formulating a plan. She sighed a third time. She knew she would continue to think about it until she did something. Then she brightened and went to find the one person who could help her pull off her plan: Hermione.

**Hogwarts: October 31, 1977**

Lily was in an awful mood. When she had first received the letter telling her that she was Head Girl, she had been ecstatic. Then she started to guess who the Head Boy would be. She had been fairly certain that it would be Remus Lupin, but that was definitely _not _who showed up just before the Prefects did. Of all the luck….but Lily really should have expected it. It made sense, why he had been chosen. Of course, in the previous years, he had been such an arrogant toe-rag, but this year he really seemed to have matured. It was really quite nice. She had begun to find herself in his company more and more outside of their duties. She actually came too really like James Potter and his friends.

This was why she found herself in such an awful mood now. She was supposed to hate him, but now found herself almost…in love with him. But that couldn't be. He was everything she despised. Insolent, stupid, arrogant, handsome, kind, understanding….

No! Lily was supposed to be listing things she hated about James Potter, not what she liked about him!

She stormed into the common room and was stopped by Potter, Black, and Remus. Remus was the only Marauder that she got along with. Black was just a prankster and Potter, well…he had definitely been in her bad books for their first six years at Hogwarts.

"Lily, we need to talk to you." Remus said and Lily's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "About what?" The three Marauders shook their heads in unison. "Not here," Black said. "Why not?" Lily asked. If this was another prank, they'd definitely be in for it.

"There are too many prying eyes and ears," Ja-_Potter _said, eyes darting around the common room. Lily hesitated for a moment longer then, her curiosity getting the better of her, consented to being led from the common room and up to the seventh floor. They walked past the same section of wall three times, Lily thought they were going insane, and then a door popped up. They entered the room and found a loveseat and two deeply cushioned arm-chairs. Somehow, Lily ended up sitting on the loveseat with J-_Potter, _which she suspected was his doing. Somehow, she didn't mind.

"So," she asked, "what did you want to tell me?" They hesitated, and Lily realised that she had never seen the Marauders so worried about something before. She decided to lend a hand. "If you're going to tell me that Remus is a werewolf and that you two and Pettigrew are unregistered Animagi. I already know." The three gaped at her, shocked. Remus was the first to recover. "But how do you know? And for how long?" Lily smiled and replied that she had heard them talking in the library one day and that she had known since then.

Black stood up and stretched. "Well, I guess we can head back to the common room then. After you Lily." Lily stood up and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't. She tried pushing, pulling, and sliding, all to no avail. It was as if the room were determined to keep them there.

Several hours later, the four were still in the room and still couldn't get out. All four were getting really, really board. At that moment, the door opened and in walked Severus Snape. When he saw who was in there, he turned to walk out again, but the door had already closed. He was trapped like the rest of them.

After about another half-hour (during which Lily confiscated Black's and Snape's wands) the door opened again. This time, none other than Professor Dumbledore walked in. The others quickly sat up a little straighter and tried to look as though they hadn't been about to fall asleep. "Well," he said, eyes twinkling, "Fancy meeting you here." Lily sighed, "We've been stuck here for hours now Professor." Dumbledore nodded and turned to leave but, as with the others, the door would not open. "It appears we are stuck here until the Room sees fit to release us," Dumbledore said.

Not two minutes later, they heard a door open and turned to see who else had come to join them in their confinement. But to their surprise, the door had not opened. They looked at each other, eyebrows rose, then looked around the room to see what had made that noise. There, in the corner, was a cupboard that had been previously unnoticed. Then the door opened and two girls climbed out. One had red hair and freckles, the other was tall and had brown hair. The red-head looked to be about seventeen or so and the other was a couple of years older than her.

The two walked over and sat in the armchairs that appeared for them. The circle of furniture, that had been getting more complete as more people arrived, was now complete. After a few moments of awkward silence, during which the girls stared at James and Lily but nobody said anything, Dumbledore spoke. "I think I speak for us all when I say that I'm rather curious as to who you are." The red-head answered, "I'm Ginny Weasley and this is Hermione Granger." She hesitated a moment before continuing. "We are from 22 years into the future."

Hermione spoke for the first time, "In our time the war is over and Voldemort has been defeated. However, so many good and innocent people have died that it almost isn't worth it." Ginny spoke again, "One of my brothers is dead. My boyfriend never knew his parents because they died when he was only a year old." Hermione cut in, "One of our friends also never got to meet his parents because they were tortured into insanity. Two of our friends, who had been married for just over a year, died and left a behind a three-month old baby. There are so many others who died, we'd be here for the next ten years if we tried to name them all." Ginny added, "It's not right that they died."

Remus frowned, "How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Simultaneously, the girls lifted their right sleeves to show their shoulders. On each shoulder was a mark. It was the mark of the Order of the Phoenix, a phoenix **(A/N: duh), **and was familiar to those in the room. As the girls pulled down their sleeves, a gold Galleon fell out of each of their pockets. "What's that?" Sirius asked. Hermione and Ginny frowned. That year had been unpleasant. "That's the mark of the DA." Ginny said in a _duh _tone. "What's the DA?" James asked. Hermione and Ginny smirked in unison, "If you listen to us…" Ginny started and Hermione finished, "we'll tell you later." The Marauders and Lily groaned, then silenced as the girls gave them a "if you don't want to know, please continue" look. A moment later, the girls taking the Room's silence as a signal to continue, Hermione said, "We led you to this Room for a very specific reason. We will tell you about the future, then you can decide whether or not you want to change it." Sirius raised his hand, but Ginny cut him off in a tired voice, "yes Sirius. There will be food." Sirius nodded, but kept quiet. Hermione reached into her beaded bag (the same one she, Harry, and Ron had used while Horcrux hunting) and pulled out several small pouches that were labelled with the names of the people in the room. She passed around the bags as Ginny explained, "These pouches are a recent invention, made by Miss Granger here. They are designed to give you an unlimited quantity of whatever food you want. Simply think about what you want and pull it out of the pouch." After the pouches were handed out, Hermione reached into her bag and began pulling out books, which she handed to Ginny, who placed them on a table conjured by the Room. Remus couldn't help but ask what they were. Hermione grinned, "This story is r_eally_ complicated, and so it'll be easier if we read the books. They'll explain things much better than we ever could." "WHAT!" James and Sirius had appalled looks on their faces. "We actually have to READ?" Lily snorted, "I bet this'll be the first time you ever read a book Potter, Black." Hermione looked exasperated, "We'll take turns reading. I think I'll start." She held up the book and they finally saw the cover.

HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

"What's a Philosopher's Stone?" Severus asked looking at Professor Dumbledore. This was the first time he had spoken in a while and the others had almost forgotten he was in the room. Professor Dumbledore opened his mouth to answer but Ginny spoke quickly, "please don't tell them anything you know or guess Professor. We want them to die of curiosity like we did." Professor Dumbledore nodded and the girls smiled. Lily and Remus sighed. "I hate not knowing," Lily said while Remus nodded in agreement. Ginny smirked, "Then you'll know how we felt most of the time." Hermione opened the book and took a breath, preparing to read.

**(A/N: Well? How'd I do? Send me a comment, okay? I'll try and update once a week, if I get more than five comments. The next week will be a bit tricky for me. I'm going on band camp for three nights, so I'll update as soon after that as I can.)**


	2. Chapter 2

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ What happens when two people accidentally create a stitch in time and end up being transported to the past? While you're thinking about that, I'm gonna add three Marauders, Lily, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, and the Harry Potter books. Stir well, then pour into pan and bake at 350°F for a few hours. Curl up, relax, and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived**

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

"Normal? What's so great about normal?" Sirius demanded, completely forgetting about the threat of not getting answers if they didn't stay quiet. Lily, on the other hand, had groaned and buried her head in her hands. Suddenly she looked at Ginny and Hermione with puzzlement clearly written on her face. "Why is there mention of my sister and her magic-hating husband in a book about the downfall of Voldemort?" Hermione and Ginny just shrugged and Hermione continued reading.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills.**

"What are drills?" James Potter, the pureblood wizard asked.

Lily replied, "It's a Muggle device that puts holes in walls and things."

"People would actually buy those? Weird." Sirius was surprised. "Muggles are so strange sometimes."

"They also don't have magic to do the job for them," Remus said absently, still trying to figure out what a Philosopher's Stone was. Hermione continued reading.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time caning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. **

Lily groaned again, "Yep. That's Petunia. Why is _she _in this?" Ginny smirked and said, "Soon. You'll find out soon." Then she remembered what Harry had told her about his years on Privet Drive and the smirk faded. He really had been through a lot. The others in the room noticed this, but choose not to comment. Hermione reopened the book and continued where she had left off.

**The Dursleys also had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. **

"WHAT! Petunia reproduced!" Lily screeched. Then she noticed everyone (except James) glaring at her for interrupting the story and blushed. Hermione raised an eyebrow and continued.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"WHAT"S WRONG WITH THE POTTERS!" It was James' turn to get offended and be glared at by everybody else. It didn't go unnoticed that Lily refrained from making a comment about that. Hermione ignored the outburst and continued.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister-**

"WHAT!" This time both Lily and James were yelling. James was yelling in triumph, Lily in shock that she would actually marry this (if she were being completely honest with herself) kind, understanding and handsome boy. In actuality, she was really more surprised that he actually felt that way about her.

James bounced up, grabbed Lily's hand and began to pull her around the Room in a strange sort of waltz. After about a minute of watching, Sirius was getting rather annoyed. "As much as I'm happy for you Prongs, I think it would be best for all of our curious little souls if you sat down so we can find out how Voldemort is vanquished." James, looking a little sheepish, and Lily, looking a little murderous, came back and sat down. Hermione continued where she had left off.

**but they hadn't met for several years. In fact, Mrs. Dursley normally pretended that she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband-**

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH EITHER JAMES OR LILY! WHO DO THESE MUGGLES THINK THEY ARE, TALKING ABOUT TWO OF MY BEST FRIENDS THAT WAY?" The outburst this time came from a surprising source, Remus. He looked positively furious that someone could talk about their own sister that way.

At this, Hermione finally spoke. "I really am surprised Remus. You're normally so even-tempered. I would expect this sort of outburst from Sirius or James, but not you." Ginny was nodding in agreement.

Remus looked taken aback. "So do you know me, Sirius, and James in the future?"

At this, the two girls shook heads. "We know you and Sirius, but we never met James or Lily," Ginny explained. "The reason for that will be given within the chapter, but as we haven't even finished the first page, I have almost no hopes of getting to the end of the chapter by next week." Those who had made outbursts smiled at the gentle rebuke then listened with rapture to Hermione's voice.

**were as unDursleyish-**

"That's not a word," Dumbledore said without thinking. His students and the newcomers glared at him for interrupting the story and he quickly went back to listening.

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"How dare they think such things about my son!?Me and James," James gave a small start as he realised that she had called him by his first name instead of his last, "I can handle, but how dare she go after our son like that!" Calming down slightly, she pulled a blank sheet of parchment and a quill out of her bag, and then made a quick note. When asked what she was doing, she shrugged and said, "Making a list of all the things my sister and her family have to pay for." The others raised eyebrows, but quickly forgot about her as Hermione continued to read.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. **

"This kid is a brat," Severus said, disgust in his voice. All three of the Marauders present looked ready to hex their class-mate, but stopped when Hermione said, "If any of you hexes any of those in this room, Ginny and I will leave." She said it in such a no-nonsense way that the others instantly believed her.

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Why would there be owls flying there?" Lily was clearly baffled.

**At half-past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Snivelly. This kid is a brat." That was something James Potter had never thought he would say.

"**Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map. For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realise what he had seen- then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light.**

"No it must have been an Animagus. I bet it was Professor McGonagall." Remus stated calmly, as if Mr. Dursley were an idiot for not realising this fact.

**Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. **

"Definitely McGonagall," the Marauders said in unison. All of them had seen her glare enough to recognize it anywhere, even in a book. "But what's she doing there?" Lily asked, looking hopefully at the two time travellers. Ginny and Hermione just raised their eyebrows and gave her a _do you really expect us to answer you_ look. After a moment, the point had been made and Hermione looked back at the book.

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said **_**Privet Drive- **_**no, **_**looking **_**at the sign; cats couldn't read maps **_**or **_**signs.**

"They can in their Animagi," Sirius interjected, earning him a glare from Ginny. He shrank back from her apparent anger. What none of them new was that inwardly she was shaking with laughter.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town, he thought of nothing except a very large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

"Why is he so surprised by people wearing cloaks? Everybody wears cloaks." James interrupted with a confused look on his face.

"Muggles don't wear cloaks James, they wear jackets." Lily said absently. She was thinking of ways to get back at her sister for the things she was going to do.

"Oh. I didn't know that," Sirius sounded surprised. He was even more surprised that Lily had called James by his proper name, and that she hadn't yelled at him for not knowing something that a Pureblood wizard wouldn't know.

"I can't believe how careless people are being. At this rate, the Muggles will discover the magical community." Professor Dumbledore spoke for what was almost the first time since the beginning of the chapter. The students looked at him, almost surprised to hear his voice. It was like they'd forgotten he was even there.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes- the get-ups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt- these people were obviously collecting for something… yes that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills.**

**Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. **_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"This guy sure likes to yell," snorted Severus. To their surprise, the Marauders found themselves nodding along with him. When they caught what they were doing, they looked horrified that they had just agreed with Severus Snape.

Ginny laughed slightly. The others in the room looked at her. She smiled innocently, "I would just like to point out that I think this is the longest we have been able to read without being interrupted." The others laughed with her.

**He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he though he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite.**

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying. **

"**The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

"**-yes their son, Harry-"**

"We have a son! And his name's Harry!" James' shout was ecstatic, even more so than when he found out he a Lily were married.

Lily, on the other hand, was worried. Not that she wasn't pleased they had a son or anything, but she had this really foreboding feeling. "What happened to us?"

Almost no one heard Lily's near-whisper, the Marauders were too caught up in the revelation of Harry's existence. And, since we are talking about the Marauders, they were celebrating very loudly. "I guess that explains why this book's called _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," _Remus said thoughtfully.

"I guess he'll be making regular appearances then," Sirius said gleefully. He wanted to see whether Harry took after his father's pranking impulsiveness or his mother's careful studiousness.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperer's as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. **

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized the telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking…**

"Wow," Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "he actually thought.

**no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.**

"How can he not even know his nephew's name?" Remus was astounded that a person could hate someone so much.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Those names are so lame. Harry is a far superior name. I'm glad Prongs and Lily chose to name their child something awesome."

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her- if **_**he'd **_**had a sister like that**

"There is NOTHING wrong with my Lily!" James decided he really didn't like these people. He shuddered. These people were his in-laws!

…**but all the same, those people in cloaks…**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"**Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare: "Don't be sorry my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"HORRAY! Voldemort is dead!" James and Sirius spoke in unison.

"Ha-ha, he was called a Muggle and he doesn't even know what that is." Lily took some odd satisfaction from this.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off. **

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he'd been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. **

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four- and it didn't improve his mood- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"**Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.**

"That won't work if it's McGonagall- which it almost definitely is." Remus was still confident that it was McGonagall, the evidence all pointed that way.

"I wonder why she would hang out on Privet Drive for the whole day," Lily pondered.

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

Remus grinned. His McGonagall theory was getting more and more evidence to back it up with.

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word (Shan't!). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

"**And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping patterns." The news reader allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be anymore showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

"**Well Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early- it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

"People are behaving so carelessly. It's a miracle that the Muggles aren't more suspicious." Lily said. She glared at the three Marauders. "And it really wouldn't surprise me to find out that you four were behind the shooting stars." They looked at her innocently and James said, "who, us?" Lily wanted to scream in frustration and he continued. "I do have to admit that's a good idea for a prank though." Lily shook her head in exasperation, muttering something about "he never changes," under her breath.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…**

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er- Petunia, dear- you haven't heard from you sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended that she didn't have a sister.**

"**No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

"**Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"**

"Wizards are not funny looking! You are Dursley!" Sirius shouted.

"**So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.'**

"**Well, I just thought… maybe… it was something to do with… you know… **_**her lot**_**."**

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter.' He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

"**I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

"**What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

"**Harry. Nasty common name, if you ask me."**

"HOW DARE SHE SAY THAT ABOUT MY SON'S NAME!?" Lily yelled. She glared furiously at everyone and then scribbled furiously on her list of reasons to get back at Petunia.

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something.**

"I wonder what Professor McGonagall is waiting for," Lily said. She seemed to have calmed down a lot. Hermione and Ginny smiled at her and James. Learning about their deaths was going to hit all of them hard, but it would be hardest for James and Lily.

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters **_**were **_**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind… He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in all anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect **_**them…**_

**How very wrong he was.**

"I don't like the sound of that," James said worriedly, absent-mindedly stroking Lily's hair. The others thought it strange that she allowed it, but Remus thought that maybe she was finally allowing the feelings he knew she felt for him to come out into the open.

Lily turned to the other two girls in the room. "Does something happen to me and James? What about Harry? Please, I don't know if I can take this suspense."

Ginny and Hermione just shook their heads, faces blank. "You'll have to wait. Your questions will be answered before the end of this chapter, just please be patient." Ginny said, a hint of sympathy in her voice. She knew what it was like to be in the dark about the life of someone you loved. Lily sighed and leaned her head on James' chest. She snuggled in closer to him and he, though surprised, wrapped his arm around her.

**Mr. Dursley might have drifted into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no signs of sleepiness. It was sitting still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

"This person must have Apparated!" Sirius said gleefully. "That means he's a wizard! I bet it's Dumbledore, and he and McGonagall are meeting here for some strange reason that we will find out if we keep reading!" and before anyone could say anything, he gestured to Hermione to continue.

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive, He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparking behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Professor Dumbledore, what are you doing at that place?" Lily asked, an awful suspicion forming in her mind.

Dumbledore shrugged. He had his guesses, but Hermione and Ginny had asked him not to share them.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was sill staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter, He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again- the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.**

"This Put-Outer thingy sounds really cool! What it's actually called?" Sirius looked at his headmaster. Dumbledore looked at Ginny and asked, "Do we find out more about it?" Ginny nodded and said, "yes, but not for several books." Dumbledore nodded and Sirius pouted that he would have to wait for answers.

**If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"**Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Ha! I was right!" Remus got up and did a little victory jig before sitting back down.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square lasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"**How did you know it was me?"**

"**My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

"**You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"**All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

"**Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.**

"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful about being discovered," Lily said, still worried about what was to come.

"**You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no- even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls… shooting stars… Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent- I bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

Lily looked extremely annoyed that her guess as to who caused the shooting stars was incorrect. On the other hand, she looked extremely comfortable, curled up against James, who was stroking her hair. The sight made Hermione and Ginny miss their own boyfriends.

"**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently, "We've had precious little to celebrate for elven years."**

Those in the room gasped. "So that means Voldemort dies in four years?" James looked at the girls from the future questioningly.

They looked at each other, seeming to communicate without speaking, then Hermione nodded and they turned back to the room. Ginny spoke, "yes. You all graduate at the end of the year. Then James and Lily are married during the summer and live happily for two years. In November of 1979, you find out that Lily is expecting. On July 31st, 1980 Harry is born. For the next year, everything is fine. Now, Harry is about a year old and it's Halloween. That's all I can tell you for now, you'll find out everything soon enough." The others nodded and Hermione continued to read.

"**I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really **_**has **_**gone, Dumbledore?"**

"**It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

Most of those in the room cheered at the news that Voldemort was gone. There were some in the room, namely Dumbledore, who were wondering what Professor McGonagall had wanted him to tell her.

"**A **_**what**_**?"**

"**A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"**No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this the moment for sherbet lemons. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who **_**has **_**gone-"**

"**My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this "You-Know-Who" nonsense- for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: **_**Voldemort.**_**" Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbet lemons- pretended not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying "You-Know-Who." I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"**I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows that you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, **_**Voldemort- **_**was frightened of."**

"**You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"**Only because you're too-well- **_**noble **_**to use them."**

"**It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madame Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing compared to the **_**rumors **_**that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discus, the real reason that she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a women had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

"**What they're **_**saying,**_**" she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are- are- that they're- **_**dead." **_

The room was silent. James and Lily stared at each other in shock. Then, knowing from experience with the Hogwarts rumor mill, Sirius looked at the two girls that had answers. He couldn't bring himself to ask the question, so he let his eyes ask it. Hermione nodded and surreptitiously wiped some tears from her eyes. Ginny, who was also leaking a little, spoke with a shaky voice. "The rumors are true; however there is more to this story. Please refrain from interrupting for the next bit- it'll be hard enough to read." Hermione was about to start reading, when Lily stopped her and said, "I did hear what you just said Gin," Ginny smiled at the shortened form of her name, "but I have to know. You said that your boyfriend didn't ever meet his parents. Was that Harry?" Ginny nodded, and Lily relaxed into James, crying softly into his chest. He comforted her as best as he could, while fighting tears himself. The room was still silent, all looking sombre. The usual twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes was no longer there.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

"**Lily and James… I can't believe it… I didn't want to believe it… Oh, Albus…"**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know… I know…" he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' son, Harry. But- he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one know why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter. Voldemort's power somehow broke- and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

There were shocked gasps at this and Lily and James, still a little teary eyed, looked proud that their son had accomplished this at the age of 1.

"**It's- it's **_**true?" **_**faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all that he's done… all the people he's killed… he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding… of all the things to stop him… but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead little planets were moving around the edges. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

"**Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me **_**why **_**you're here, of all places?"**

"**I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

Though most in the room were shocked and staring at Dumbledore, wondering why on earth he would bring Harry there, Ginny was glaring at the headmaster and making a growling sort of noise. Harry had told her what life had been like at the Dursley's and she had never really forgiven Dumbledore for making him go through that. Lily was also glaring at the headmaster. She knew her sister and how she'd take having someone magical in her house.

Sirius looked at Hermione, "'Mione, why doesn't Harry come stay with me or Remus?"

Hermione sighed and answered, "Well, Remus has his lycanthropy. I'm not sure how things are now, but in four years, legislation has made it impossible for werewolves to adopt kids." Those in the room nodded. Remus looked sad and a little depressed that things were only going to get worse for his kind. The other two Marauders and Lily looked furious that the Ministry would put such stupid legislation into practice. Hermione continued, "And as for why Sirius didn't take him in… well, that has its own book, so I'm not going to spoil it." Those groaned, but Sirius was looking a little worried. He wondered what would cause him to abandon Harry.

"**You don't mean- you **_**can't **_**mean the people who live **_**here?" **_**cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore- you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son- I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets."**

"Brat," muttered Snape, and the others nodded agreement, the Marauders not even realising who they were agreeing with. They were too caught up in worry for Harry.

"**Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"**It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"Do you really think you can explain all this in a letter?" Lily asked the professor, disbelief in her voice. Dumbledore just shrugged. He had no idea what had been going through his mind. It was four years into the future, after all.

"**A letter," repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous- a legend- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in future- there will be books written about Harry- every child in his world will know his name!"**

James looked excited by something. "Is it?" he asked Ginny.

"Is what?" she looked up, confused.

"Is it known as Harry Potter day?"

She smiled sadly. "No, it's not." James' face fell. "He gets another day named after him." James' face lit up like one of Fred and George's Filibuster Fireworks. "Besides, did you really want the day you died to be a celebration?" He frowned, thinking about it and decided that, he was happy that they didn't end up naming that day after Harry.

"**Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Well, when he puts it like that," Lily grumbled. She was a little more than mildly displeased that Harry had to be raised by the magic-hating morons that were her sister and brother-in-law.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes- yes, you're right of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

"You better not be!" Lily and James roared at their headmaster in unison.

"**Hagrid's bringing him."**

Lily and James sighed in relief.

'**You think it- **_**wise- **_**to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with almost anything," Sirius put in, the others in the room nodding in agreement. Well, not Snape, but that's beside the point.

"**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"**I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to- what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky- and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"Cool!" Sirius said, nearly jumping out of his seat, "I want one!"

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing compared to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so **_**wild- **_**long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

"Hagrid!" the Marauders chorused. "And he's got baby Harry!" said Remus happily. "Now we can stop worrying that the Muggles will get to him before he has the chance to escape!"

"**Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

"**Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me."**

"It is mine!" Sirius said happily.

"**I've got him, sir."**

"The poor boy… never getting to really meet his parents…" Lily started to cry softly into James again. She was now almost sitting in his lap. James started rubbing small, soothing circles on her back with one hand, and stroking her long red hair with his other.

"**No problems, were there?"**

Lily looked up quickly, suddenly worried, but was reassured by the next sentence.

"**No, sir- house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

Lily smiled, tears still trickling down her cheeks.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead-**

"Aww, he looks like James," Sirius said softly.

**-they could see a curiously-shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"**Is that where-?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

"**Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar for ever."**

Remus looked at Ginny and asked softly, "Does he still have that scar?" Ginny nodded and Remus frowned. "I wonder what Voldemort hit Harry with. It can't have been Avada Kedavra, there's no defense to that. There's no way he would have survived it." He looked at the two hopefully, not really expecting an answer. Ginny and Hermione held a quick, whispered discussion and then Ginny said, "Voldemort did, in fact, use Avada Kedavra." When the others started to ask questions, Hermione added, "and we're not telling how he managed that, because it's explained in the books."

"**Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"**Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in very useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground."**

The students looked at the Headmaster a little strangely.

"**Well- give him here, Hagrid- we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

"**Could I- could I say goodbye to him, sir?' asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great shaggy, head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"I take offense to that," Sirius said, then realised who was in the room with them. He looked at the Headmaster to see a look of great confusion on his face. "I'm sorry Mr. Black, but I seem to have gone temporarily deaf and did not hear a word you just said. Could you repeat that for me?" Sirius shook his head and gestured to Hermione to keep reading.

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

"**S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it- Lily and James dead- an' poor harry off ter live with Muggles-"**

"**Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, of we'll be found." Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"**Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join in the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall- Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"**I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

"Charming," snorted Sirius.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just make out the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

"**Good luck, Harry," he murmured.**

Lily snorted. "He's going to need it, living with my sister."

**He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you'd expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed over the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the mild bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley… He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter- the boy who lived!"**

There was silence as Hermione finished reading. Lily was wiping tears from her cheeks, and even James had a few tear stains running down his face. Sirius and Remus were solemn, as was Professor Dumbledore. Snape was wondering why he was here.

After a few moments, Hermione said, "That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" Remus, who happened to be sitting next to her took the book and said, "I think it'll be easier if we just proceed around the circle." Hermione nodded and settled back in her seat.

Remus cleared his throat and began to read:

**Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass…**

(A/N: So, how's the second chapter? Still doing all right? Send me a comment if there's anything you think I can improve on. BTW, I'm looking for a Beta, if you're interested just PM me. I'd also like to take the time to reply to the comments people have sent me:

**WhisperOfTheHeart925: **Thanks for the encouragement! I'm really having fun writing this, I just hope it doesn't get boring or repetitive, or I run out of ideas.

**msewester: **Good, I'm glad it's different. I wanted this to be something similar to others and true to the characters I'm using, but unique in a good way.

Thanks for the comments guys and if you're interested in being my Beta, remember to PM me! I hope to have the next part up in the next week, but it might not happen. I'll do my best!)


	3. Chapter 3

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ What happens when two people accidentally create a stitch in time and end up being transported to the past? While you're thinking about that, I'm gonna add three Marauders, Lily, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, and the Harry Potter books. Stir well, then pour into pan and bake at 350°F for a few hours. Curl up, relax, and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass**

Remus looked down at the page and began to read:

**Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass**

"What's the vanishing glass?" Sirius asked.

James sighed. His best friend could be so annoying sometimes. "At a guess, I'd say it's some accidental magic, but I'm sure we find out as the chapter goes on. So if we could just let Remus read…" Sirius nodded, understanding the unspoken rebuke.

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step-**

"So he's almost eleven now?" Lily looked at Ginny, who nodded, then leaned back into James with a sigh. "All the birthdays we missed…"

**-but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living-room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house too.**

"I don't like the sound of this," Remus was worried for Harry. Even though this event wouldn't take place for almost fourteen years, Remus was still concerned for Harry. Besides, if they knew what was coming, they could avoid having Lily and James die in four years.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.**

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

"Lovely wake up call," Sirius muttered, but almost no one heard him over Lily and James yelling, "THIS IS HOW THEY WAKE HIM UP IN THE MORNING!" Lily's quill could be heard scratching furiously.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he'd been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling that he'd had the same dream before.**

"He remembers when Hagrid brought him there! There's a chance he might remember stuff about what happened before he lived with the Dursleys," James said, but he didn't sound hopeful.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Dudley's birthday."**

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing…"**

"What's so bad about his cousin's birthday?" Remus wanted to know. Lily had a feeling she knew the answer.

**Dudley's birthday- how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed-**

"He's almost slower in the morning than James is," Sirius said. "I didn't think that was possible."

"However slow he may be, he's definitely faster than you are Sirius," was James' retort. Remus ignored them and continued reading.

**-and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them- put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"THEY MAKE HIM SLEEP IN A CUPBOARD!" Lily screeched while James looked positively murderous. Lily added to her list.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted-**

"What's a computer?" James asked.

"It's a Muggle contraption that you can play games and stuff on," Hermione said and the others, except Ginny, looked at her oddly. When she noticed the stares she said, "I'm a Muggle-born." The others nodded and Remus went back to reading.

**-not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise- unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"THEY LET THEIR SON BEAT HARRY UP! WHY DON'T THEY PUT A STOP TO THIS?" James yelled, proving that he was just as furious at the Dursley's treatment of his future son as his future wife was. Lily was adding to her list.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

James snorted, "Nope, not because of the cupboard. It's just the Potter genes. Though living in a cupboard probably wouldn't help much."

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes.**

"Just like his mother's," James said, smiling at the girl now curled in his lap.

**He wore round glasses-**

"Just like his father's," Lily smiled up at him and, without even thinking about what she was doing, leaned up and kissed him. It wasn't anything special, just a quick peck on the lips, but it was their first kiss. James looked like he might go into shock.

**-held together by a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

James growled and Lily pulled out her quill.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"Why does he like that? He should hate it, it was caused by Dark Magic," Remus interrupted himself and looked at the two girls.

Ginny frowned for a moment (she was remembering all the pain that scar had caused Harry, not to mention Sirius' death), and then said, "He liked it then. He hates it now." Remus frowned but continued to read.

**He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died,"**

"THEY TOLD HIM WE DIED IN A CAR CRASH! WHAT ELSE ARE THEY KEEPING FROM HIM?" Saying James was mad would be like calling World War I a 'little disagreement.' Lily wasn't much better scribbling on her parchment.

**she had said. "And don't ask questions.'**

_**Don't ask questions- **_**that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

"They just don't want him asking questions about James and Lily," Remus said, more than a little annoyed. If he couldn't ask questions how was he supposed to learn anything? Lily was adding to her list.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"Lovely morning greeting," Sirius said sarcastically. Lily nodded, adding to her list.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way- all over the place.**

James was laughing, "Harry must have Potter hair. You can't tame that; nothing will keep it flat. I should know," James shuddered slightly. Remus laughed and continued reading.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blonde hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel- Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

The Marauders all broke into laughter. Lily was trying to look disapproving, but failing miserably. Dumbledore looked amused and Snape looked annoyed that they all found this so funny. Sirius managed to gasp out, "I love your son Prongs and Lily. He must have inherited Prongs' sense of humor." When everyone had recovered enough, Remus went back to reading.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"He is such a spoiled brat! I can't believe Petunia treats her kid this way!" Lily was, once again, scribbling on her parchment.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"He really should slow down, he could choke," Lily said, her motherly instincts taking over.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two **_**presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? **_**Two **_**more presents. Is that all right?"**

"Yes, that's definitely the way to deal with the situation," Sirius said sarcastically.

Remus nodded, "They should be teaching him to be grateful for what he has." He then continued reading.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty… thirty…"**

"Good Godric, our nephew is an idiot," said James, still annoyed that he was related (even if it was only through a marriage that hadn't happened yet) to these people.

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh," Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

"Of course he'll say it's all right, she just told him they were buying him more stuff!" Remus interrupted his reading to say angrily.

James nodded, "I don't want to offend you Lils, but your sister is a bit of an idiot."

Lily just shrugged, "No offence taken. I already knew that she was an idiot. I didn't know she was this much of one, though."

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"Why on earth would Dudley want to grow up to be like his father?" Sirius asked.

**At that moment the telephone rang-**

"What's a telephone?" James asked.

"It's a Muggle device that allows the Muggles to communicate instantaneously," Hermione said and James nodded his understanding. He was privately thinking that he should have taken Muggle Studies instead of Divination, but it was too late to change his mind now.

**-and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"Why do they call Harry 'him'? Harry has a name, and it's a very nice name too." Lily said, while adding too her list.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"I can't believe Petunia would leave Harry out of these sorts of things!" Lily screamed while adding to her list.

"Why does the name Figg sound so familiar?" asked Remus thoughtfully, looking at Ginny and Hermione and hoping they would give them answers for once.

Hermione looked at the group and said, "Mrs. Figg is a member of the Order. She's a Squib whose job is to make sure Harry stays safe and alive." Ginny gestured for Remus to continue reading before the others in the group could ask questions.

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr., Paws and Tufty again.**

"Ginny, what's Harry's middle name?" Lily asked, seemingly out of the blue.

The Marauders raised their eyebrows at the question that seemed to have been randomly asked, but Ginny knew what was going through Lily's head and replied, "James."

Lily nodded, thanking Ginny, then turned to glare at the book and said quite sternly, "Harry James Potter, how could you be so insensitive to this poor women who is obviously going through so much pain right now!?"Remus continued reading as the other two Marauders rolled their eyes at Lily.

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

Remus looked up asking, "Anyone know who this Marge person is?"

Lily frowned for a moment, "I think Vernon has a sister named Marge."

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there- or rather, as though he were something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"They compare my son to a SLUG!" James, who had calmed down a bit, was back to being furious. Lily was making another note on her list.

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend- Yvonne?"**

Lily sighed in relief and everyone turned to her. She blushed a little and said, "I know Yvonne and she's not like my sister, not really. If they leave Harry with her, he might have some fun."

"**On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

Lily groaned and Ginny said, "Don't feel bad about it Lils. It's just Harry's luck, you'll be used to it by the end of this book maybe even this chapter." This didn't reassure Lily that much.

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully-**

"They'd better not leave him there alone, he's only eleven!" Lily said, going into her mothering mode again.

**(he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

Remus stopped reading and looked at the girl next to him. "Mione, why do they think that he'll blow up the house?"

Hermione replied thoughtfully, "I don't know for sure, but I think it's because they know he's a wizard and are terrified of him doing accidental magic." Remus nodded and went back to the book.

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car…"**

"Lily, your sister had better not leave him in the car, he's not a dog for Merlin's sake!" James said, slightly snappily. He wasn't mad at Lily or anyone in the room (except maybe Snape), but he didn't like the way his future in-laws were treating his and Lily's future son.

Lily nodded agreement and sat up a little straighter on James' lap, quill poised over the parchment.

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"**

James and Lily sighed in relief and Lily leaned back on James' chest. She looked really comfortable and James looked like Christmas had come early. LILY EVANS was willingly sitting on his lap! Snape, on the other hand, looked quite annoyed by this fact.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"Brat," Snape nodded. The others nodded. Dumbledore was privately amazed that the Marauders hadn't hexed him yet, and that they were agreeing with each other. Maybe these girls' from the future wasn't a horrible thing. It might get rid of some of the enmity felt between several of his students, and that was always a good thing.

"**Dinky Duddydums-"**

Everyone burst out laughing at the name. Lily managed to gasp out, "Gin, did they really call him that?"

Ginny nodded and said, "Petunia did. Vernon had other names for him." When everyone was once again back in control, Remus picked up the book (he had dropped it when he burst out laughing) and began reading again.

"**-don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"**I… don't… want… him… t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"I can't believe Dudley used to treat Harry like that!" Everyone was surprised when it was Ginny started screaming at the book. Eventually, when she showed no signs of stopping soon, Hermione pulled out her wand and Silenced her.

"Sorry Gin, but we need our ears so we can hear the rest of the series," she said as she pocketed her wand. "I'll remove the spell when you've calmed down a bit." Ginny scowled.

Lily, also scowling, asked, "What do you mean _used to treat Harry like that?" _She was suspicious that he treated her worse now.

Hermione answered because Ginny obviously couldn't. "Harry and Dudley actually get along really well now. Can't say that his relationship with your sister and her husband has improved as much as Harry and Dudley's- well I could, but I'd be lying."

"What made their relationship change so much?" James asked, curious.

"We're not telling. You'll just have to wait in see," Hermione said, smirking slightly. Then, she noticed that Ginny was no longer scowling and removed the charm.

"Thank you!" she said in exasperation. "As I was going to say before _someone,_" she glared pointedly at Hermione, "Silenced me, it's no wonder Harry hated the summer." At this, Lily added to her list, which was growing too long too fast_. Harry had been mistreated so much by my family_, she thought sadly.

**Just then, the doorbell rang- "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically- and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother.**

"How much do you want to bet that he stops 'crying' immediately?" Sirius said in disgust.

James was frowning. "What kind of a name is Piers?" he asked. Remus chose to ignore the question and keep reading.

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

"Good thing Peter's not here," whispered Sirius so only Lily, James, and Remus could hear him.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.**

Lily frowned. "I don't like him," she said very decisively.

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"I told you so," said Sirius gleefully.

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursley' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle couldn't think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now boy- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"They aren't serious- don't you dare say anything Sirius- are they?" James said, while Lily moved her quill into the 'ready to record something that I need to get back at my sister for' position.

Ginny looked quite annoyed. "Unfortunately, yes. He is very serious. And if you make any kind of pun now Sirius, we'll take your food bag away." Sirius looked away and threw away the key while Lily scribbled on her list.

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"Why don't they believe him?" Lily asked curiously. Her sister would have a reason besides magic for this.

Hermione sighed, "It's because of his track record with accidental magic. He didn't have any idea that it was magic, so he says he has no idea how it happens. I honestly think that even if he had known, he would still be punished. Your sister and her husband really hate magic."

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

Ginny interrupted Remus, "You'll see what Hermione meant now. It talks about some of the things he did. Some of them are really funny, but I don't think a lot of those were included here. They might be later, though. If they don't tell you, we will."

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking like he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and sellotaped glasses.**

"Why are all his clothes baggy?" Lily asked, dreading the answer.

"The Dursleys feel no need to spend money on Harry. He gets Dudley's old clothes and they just tape up his glasses so that she doesn't have to buy him new ones every time Dudley punched him and broke them, which was quite frequently. The only time he got a new pair is when the lenses shattered," Ginny said stiffly. She did _not _approve of Petunia's parenting skills.

**Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he **_**couldn't **_**explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but it certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"So they punish him by LOCKING HIM IN HIS CUPBOARD for instances that can't be explained in the Muggle world, but let him off the hook for things that can?" Lily said in disbelief. She couldn't believe her sister was like this.

Hermione frowned, "I think that's how it worked, yes. It might change as Harry gets older though, I can't remember." Lily huffed angrily and added to her list.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.**

"How did he get up there? Doesn't he know how dangerous it is, up that high without a broom?" Lily's mothering side came out for a moment.

**Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual-**

"THAT SORT OF THING WAS NORMAL!? DON'T MUGGLE SCHOOLS HAVE ANY SORT OF DISEPLENARY SYSTEM?" James was made quite furious by the torture his son's cousin put him through. Lily, muttering quietly, added to her list.

**-when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

The Marauders laughed. "That's not the best lie Harry," said Remus.

Hermione smiled. "None of us really knew how to lie, so when we had to, we were in trouble."

James and Sirius looked regretful. "I wish I could have taught you how to lie," James said, still slightly sore over the proclamation of his death.

Lily looked shocked. "Why on earth would they need to know how to lie? My son is _not _going to be going around lying to teachers!"

Hermione smiled, "Actually Lils, it would have made things so much easier if we knew how to lie, especially during seventh year."

Sirius looked curious, "What happened in your seventh year?"

Hermione and Ginny smirked. "Not telling," Ginny said.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

"That's not very nice Harry," Lily said, referring to her son's description of Mrs. Figg's living-room.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects.**

"Why does he like to complain about my son so much?" James asked, for no particular reason since he already knew the answer.

**This morning, it was motorbikes.**

"…**roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"Bad move Harry," said Sirius, shaking his head.

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a giant beetroot with a mustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"**

**Dudley and Piers snickered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it were a dream or even a cartoon- they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly. It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blonde.**

The Marauders, Lily, Ginny, and Hermione all burst out laughing. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling more than usual, and even Snape's scowl was less scowl-like.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

James looked very annoyed that his son had to deal with this sort of thing. Lily was adding to her list.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

**Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Oh, no. What happens?" Sirius asked, looking at Hermione and Ginny, who shook their heads, determined to not say anything.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dust bin- but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself- no company except stupid people drumming on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up- at least he got to visit the rest of the house. **

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

_**It winked.**_

"Why would it do that? What's going on?" James said worriedly, looking at Hermione and Ginny.

"Harry, I don't like the sound of this. Get away from that snake this instant," ordered Lily, forgetting that her son couldn't hear her.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked too.**

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly, '**_**I get that all the time."**_

"The snake just communicated with Harry! How is that possible?" Remus interrupted himself so he could worry like the others.

Snape sighed and said, "If you lot would just keep your mouths shut, maybe we could find out." James and Sirius glared at him but Remus, recognizing that he was right, ignored them and went back to the book.

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"Harry and the snake just had a conversation! The only way he could do that is if he were a Parslemouth! I'm a Muggleborn, so there's no way he got it from me so… is there something you're not telling us James?" Lily said this quite quickly and it was a moment before James realised he had been asked a question.

"No, I'm not a Parslemouth, and I know that none of my family is either," he said, just as bewildered as the rest of them.

Remus looked at Ginny and Hermione. "Is Harry a Parselmouth?"

The girls held a quick, whispered conversation that none of the others, try though they did, could hear. All they heard was an annoying buzzing sound. After a couple minutes of intense discussion, Hermione looked at the others and said, "yes… and no."

Sirius looked extremely confused. "What do you mean 'yes and no'? It's a very straightforward question!"

Ginny smiled sort of sadly. "When you're dealing with Harry Potter, nothing is straightforward." Letting the others stew about this, Remus continued reading.

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

_**Boa constrictor, Brazil.**_

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: **_**This specimen was bred in the zoo. **_**"Oh, I see- so you've never been to Brazil?" **

"Harry, while I wholeheartedly approve of the excellent manners you're displaying right now, I would be much happier if you were _not _talking to a snake." Lily said in a deceptively calm voice. James nodded, still very worried.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made them both jump. "DUDLEY! Mr. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T **_**BELIEVE **_**WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

Those in the room groaned. It was, undoubtedly, that Polkiss kid Dudley hung out with.

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

"He did not just hit Harry," said Sirius, looking angry.

Lily sighed and closed her eyes. "I can't believe Petunia lets her child act like this." After a moment of quiet pity for her future son, she opened her eyes and added the incident to her list.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast, no one saw how it happened- one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

"What happened?" Sirius said eagerly.

**Harry sat up and gasped: the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out to the floor- people throughout the reptile house screamed and ran for the exits.**

"Cool," James and Sirius said in unison.

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."**

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

The Marauders laughed. Of course the Muggle zookeepers wouldn't know a thing about magic, and would have no idea what happened to the glass.

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers recovering enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you Harry?"**

The occupants of the Room of Requirement groaned. Except for Snape, who looked uncaring.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go- cupboard- stay- no meals," before collapsing into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

Lily waited until Remus paused at the end of a sentence before she exploded. "THEY LOCKED HIM IN HIS CUPBORAD AGAIN! AND WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT NO MEALS? WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO, STARVE HIM? IF THIS IS HOW HE IS NORMALLY TREATED, I SERIOUSLY HAVE TO HAVE A CHAT WITH MY SISTER ABOUT THE PROPER CARE OF CHILDREN!" On and on she went, yelling about how Harry needed proper nourishment and things like that. After a good ten minutes of so, she had calmed down sufficiently to allow Remus to continue.

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was, and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

James and Lily looked horrified at the thought that the only reason Harry ever got fed when he was locked in his cupboard, was because he snuck out to get it.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"So Harry knows…nothing about us?" James asked softly. Hermione and Ginny nodded silently and Lily started to cry softly into James' embrace, only pausing to add to her list, then going back to James' comforting arms. James glared at his friends, as if daring them to make a comment, but they were to depressed by Harry's lack of knowledge about his parents to even want to make some kind of comment.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened- the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. **

"Wizards," said Sirius with forced cheer.

**Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

Remus stopped reading. "That's the end of the chapter."

James looked at Hermione. "Mione, did my son really grow up like that, alone, friendless, unwanted, and unloved?" Hermione nodded sadly. She and Ginny were almost in tears, and Lily was in tears.

Remus passed the book to James who turned the page to the next chapter.

**Chapter 3, **he read. **The Letters From No One.**


	4. Chapter 4

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ What happens when two people accidentally create a stitch in time and end up being transported to the past? While you're thinking about that, I'm gonna add three Marauders, Lily, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, and the Harry Potter books. Stir well, then pour into pan and bake at 350°F for a few hours. Curl up, relax, and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 3: The Letters from No One**

James paused for a moment. "Does this mean he's going to go to Hogwarts?" he asked.

Hermione smiled mysteriously. "I'm not telling."

James turned to the other time traveller. "Please Gin?" he begged.

She thought for a moment. "He gets his letter in this chapter, but I'm not sure exactly when."

Sirius cheered, "He can finally get away from those horrible Muggles!"

James reopened the book.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, summer holidays had started and Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera, crashed his remote control aeroplane and, first time on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That makes no sense at all," Remus said in disgust. "They must be really stupid.

"They are," said Ginny and Hermione in unison.

"Have you met them?" asked Lily curiously.

Hermione shuddered, recalling the meeting, as Ginny said, "We only met the Dursleys once." She seemed to hesitate how to put the next bit, and then said, "There was this party that Harry insisted on inviting them to. None of the rest of us wanted to, but Harry insisted on the grounds that they are his family, so we gave in. Worst meeting ever; I'm so glad that Petunia and Vernon left after five minutes."

"Dudley stayed?" Sirius asked, wondering why he would want to.

Hermione nodded. "He and Harry are actually pretty close now. There are still some things that Dudley doesn't understand about Harry's life, but that's okay with both of them."

"What happened to make them so close?" Lily asked, thinking it would take something pretty significant for Harry and his cousin to make up.

"Fifth year," Ginny said.

"You aren't going to tell us more than that are you?" Sirius said, eyes narrowing.

"Nope," said Hermione, popping the p.

"What was this party thing you mentioned?" Lily asked, trying to get more information.

Ginny turned bright red and Hermione, snickering slightly, said, "oh, nothing big. It was only Harry's wedding."

There were gasps around the room and James said, "Harry's married! Who's the lucky girl?"

Ginny turned even brighter red and Hermione said, "You know when we introduced Ginny as Ginny_ Weasley?"_ There were nods around the room. "Well that wasn't entirely accurate. Let me introduce you to Ginny _Potter." _There were gasps around the room.

Lily and James leapt up and went over to congratulate their future daughter-in-law. "Welcome to the family," said James, grinning at her.

Lily smiled warmly. "I know that the Potter males can be idiots sometimes, but they do grow out of it. Eventually."

Ginny smiled. "Thanks guys." She paused for a moment. "You have no idea how strange it is to be in the past, being congratulated on your marriage by the parents of their yet-to-be-born son."

The group laughed as James and Lily went and sat back down. James opened the book again.

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

Lily growled as she added to her list.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had a place at Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local comprehensive. **

"No he won't! He'll be going to Hogwarts!" Sirius said indignantly.

**Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"**No thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it- it might be sick."**

The Marauders burst out laughing. Lily tried to hold it in, but eventually succumbed. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling more than usual and even Snape's scowl looked a little less… scowly.

**Then he ran before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for years.**

"It's the thought that counts," Lily said.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly walking sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for latter life.**

"How, exactly, does this teach _anything _about 'violence is never the answer'?" Sirius asked, slightly annoyed. He had a pretty good guess as to what the Smeltings stick would be used for until the end of summer.

"Because you Marauders are such _stunning _examples of that," Lily said tartly.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,-**

More laughter from the Marauders and Lily.

**-he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.**

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

Lily added to her list.

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"**Oh," he said. "I didn't realise it had to be so wet."**

Lily groaned, added to her list, and said, "Petunia hates sarcasm." The Marauders looked murderous that Dudley got a brand-new uniform, while Harry had to make do with some cast-off rags.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dying some of Dudley's old thing grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the tale and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High- like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"**Get the post Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind the paper.**

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the post Harry."**

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"Nice try to get out of work, Harry, but I don't think that'll work with these Dursleys," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"**Poke him with your Smeltings stick, Dudley."**

"They had BETTER NOT touch my son!" Lily screamed. James nodded furiously in agreement.

**Harry dodged the Smeltings stick and went to get the post. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and- **_**a letter for Harry.**_

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like an elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life had written to him. Who would?**

"Lots of people would Harry," said Hermione sadly.

"What do you mean, Mione?" asked Lily curiously.

Ginny answered, "I'm fairly certain that every child of magical parents wrote at least one letter to The Boy Who Lived. Well, except for the children of former Death Eaters." Lily looked surprised that her son was so famous.

"Did either of you ever write to Harry?" Sirius asked, hoping to get some blackmail material.

Hermione shook her head. "I'm a Muggleborn."

"What about you Gin?" James asked. Now that the question had been asked, he really wanted an answer.

"Yes, but only a couple times." James nodded and went back to the book.

**He had no friends, no other relatives- he didn't belong to the library so he'd never even gotten rude notes asking for books back.**

"Oh, Harry," Lily said softly, a little teary eyed.

**Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs**_

_**4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

"Sir," Remus looked at the Headmaster, who James and Sirius had forgotten was even in the room. "Wouldn't you be suspicious of how Harry was being treated if the address for his letter was _The Cupboard under the Stairs?"_

Professor Dumbledore nodded, "If I had seen it I would have been furious. No child should ever be treated like this. But we have a charmed quill that writes the addresses for us. It's just much easier that way; no human error comes into play." Remus nodded and James continued to read.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"What's a stamp?" James asked, his Pureblood status becoming evident once again.

"It's something Muggles put on their post," Hermione said. Sirius nodded his understanding (the term had been confusing to him as well), and James found his place on the page.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.**

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"Hilarious," Snape muttered, but the others still heard. "Really, even the Marauders are funnier than this git, and they have a horrible sense of humor."

"You just say that because you're the victim of every joke and prank," Sirius said with a sneer. Lily nudged James and, when he looked at her, pointed at the book. James, getting the message, continued to read before a fight could break out.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter.**

"Uh-oh," Remus and Sirius said in unison. They both knew that the Dursleys hated magic and that they probably wouldn't let him read his letter. Hermione buried her head in her hands with a groan, while Ginny snarled a little. They knew the Dursleys wouldn't let Harry read his letter. They wondered how the Marauders would react.

**He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk…"**

"**Dad!" Dudley said suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

The Marauders, time travellers and Lily groaned. Snape grimaced in sympathy and Dumbledore said, "That spoiled child should really learn when to tell and when not to tell." The five teenagers nodded in agreement.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

More groans from the audience.

"**That's **_**mine!" **_**said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights.**

The Marauders and the time travellers laughed at him.

**And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

The Marauders, Lily, Hermione, Ginny and Snape laughed openly at this and Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. When everyone had recovered sufficiently enough that they could breath, James reopened the book and continued to read.

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a chocking noise.**

"Wish she would," Ginny muttered, but the Marauders heard her. They were amazed that someone with such a sweet disposition could hate a person as much as Ginny seemed to. But then again, this was Petunia…

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness- Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored.**

"Welcome to Harry's life, brat," Snape muttered, much to the amusement of the others.

**He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smeltings stick.**

"If he was my son and behaved that way…" Lily muttered darkly. The others in the room leaned away from her nervously. The look in her eye was a little bit scary. James would have edged away from her, but as she was sitting on his lap, this wasn't possible. He decided that the best option was to simply continue reading.

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"What right has he got to read that letter?" asked Remus with a scowl on his face.

Ginny shook her head while Hermione said, "None whatsoever. I'd forgotten how horrible and stuck up he used to be."

James wanted to comment, but decided that he wanted to know about his son's life more, so he kept reading.

"_**I**_ **want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside of its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"There's Lily's temper," Sirius teased, smirking. Lily blushed.

"I don't know, James is a right state when he gets mad," Remus said frowning.

"True," said Sirius, frowning thoughtfully. "This can be from both of them, then." James, now slightly red, continued reading before any more insults could be traded.

"**Let **_**me **_**see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole;**

"Eavesdropping already," Remus said, shaking his head while Lily looked disappointed in her son.

"I know, we're so proud," Sirius said energetically. James nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

**Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address- how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"  
**

"Why would they want to watch the house," Sirius asked, confused.

"I don't know, maybe they need to make sure the Boy Who Lived survived?" Ginny said sarcastically. Sirius scowled at her. James continued to read.

"**Watching- spying- might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want-"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer… yes, that's best…we won't do anything…"**

"Would that work, Professor?" Snape asked the headmaster curiously.

He thought about it and said, quite certain, "No. If we don't get a reply, we'll keep sending letters until we do."

"**But-"**

"She knows that's not going to work," Lily said. "She did learn a bit, living with me and all."

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

The air in the room grew thicker. The Marauders, Lily, and Snape looked at each other, then at the time travelers to see if they knew what was going on. Seeing the same surprised look on each other's faces, the teens turned to the Headmaster to see if he knew. To their surprise (not Hermione or Ginny's as much), he was the source of the strangeness in the air. Noticing their looks, then realizing what he was doing, Dumbledore took several deep breaths and meditated for several minutes. When he reopened his eyes after the meditation, he was almost calm again. He smiled and nodded his head at James, who began reading again.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

The Marauders, Lily, Ginny, and Hermione made various animalistic noises as the cupboard was mentioned.

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"Isn't that illegal?" James asked, interrupting himself.

"Yes," said Hermione angrily. She didn't like hearing about her best friends' life before Hogwarts.

"**It was **_**not **_**a mistake," said Harry angrily. "It had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"Good," Lily said in satisfaction. Anything that caused him pain was alright with her.

"**Er- yes, Harry- about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking… you're really getting too big for it… we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"THAT IDIOT HAD TWO BEDROOMS AND THEY MADE MY GODSON SLEEP IN A CUPBOARD FOR _TEN YEARS!?" _Sirius yelled angrily.

Lily looked at James. "In the future, we should be certain to visit my sister and her _lovely _family quite frequently. When we do, we should flaunt our magic in front of them. Not in front of the neighbours mind you. We wouldn't want them to discover magic. Just in front of my sister." James nodded, a little scared of his wife-to-be.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"Why does he question it?" asked Remus.

"It must have been the first nice thing they'd done for him. I mean, wouldn't you be suspicious if that were the case?" James said rather stiffly. Remus nodded, conceding the point, and James continued to read.

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister Marge), one where Dudley slept and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom.**

"THEY HAD A GUEST BEDROOM AS WELL AS A SECOND BEDROOM FOR THEIR PIG OF A SON?!" Lily was angry as she turned to the time travellers, who nodded. She huffed and added to her list. That list was really much too long.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had one driven over next-door's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite programme had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage which had once held a parrot that Dudley had traded at school for a real air-riffle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"Trust Dudley to have avoided anything that involve using his brain, at least at that age." Ginny smiled. She was rather fond of her husband's cousin, even if he was a bit of an idiot at times and had been horrible to Harry when they were younger. Dudley felt bad about it, however, and Harry forgave him, so Ginny felt there was no point in her holding a grudge if it was all water under the bridge to the cousins.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother: "I don't **_**want **_**him in there… I **_**need **_**that room… make him get out…"**

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"My poor son, we'll make sure you can have your own room _and _your Hogwarts letter. You might even have siblings to get jealous over you having your letter and them having to wait however many years before they can get theirs," Lily said sadly. James nodded in agreement. He was a little surprised that she was taking their future relationship so well. Normally, if someone tried to tell her that this was the way things were going to be, she resisted with everything she had. It was one of the reasons she hated Divination so much. The fact that she hadn't reacted like that, and that she was now sitting relaxed on his lap, made him wonder if maybe she'd had feelings before the time travellers showed up. He'd have to ask her later.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smeltings stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof and he still didn't have his room back.**

"Brat," hissed Sirius.

"It's good he's not getting his way for once," Lily said.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the post arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smeltings stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! **_**Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive-"**_

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a minute of confused fighting, during which everyone got hit a lot by the Smeltings stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"**Go to your cupboard- I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley- go- just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Oh no," Remus said. "If Harry's plans are anything like James' then they are bound to fail."

Hermione smiled. "Usually his planed ideas don't go so well, but his spur of the moment ones are absolutely brilliant." She was thinking of their Gringotts and Ministry break-ins, as well as several other instances.

Lily groaned and buried her face in her hands.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall towards the front door-**

"**AAAAARRRGH!"**

**Harry leapt into the air- he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat- something **_**alive!**_

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realised that the big squashy something had been his uncle's face.**

Laughter rang out and Lily was smirking contentedly. She really disliked Vernon Dursley.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the post had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want-" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the letter-box.**

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails,**

"I hope they cause him pain, or that he chokes on them," Sirius said vehemently. The others nodded, including Professor Dumbledore. The teens, however, didn't notice this. They often forgot the Headmaster was in the room, because he rarely said anything.

"**if they can't **_**deliver **_**them they'll just give up."**

"No, Hogwarts wouldn't do that," Remus said confidently.

"**I'm not sure that'll work Vernon."**

"Listen to your wife," Lily said, "she knows a bit more about what's going on than you do. After all, she got to hear all about my Hogwarts years."

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me,"**

"Thank Godric," said James, before continuing.

**said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

**On Friday, no fewer than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the letter-box, they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs toilet.**

"That's quite a few letters," Snape said.

"Are you always making obvious comments, or is today a special occasion?" Sirius asked, malice coating his words. James kept reading before Snape could retaliate.

**Uncle Vernon stayed home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed 'Tiptoe through the Tulips' as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living-room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food mixer.**

"**Who on earth want to talk to **_**you**_** this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"We've already been over this Harry. Lots of people want to talk to you," Sirius said.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them happily as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today-"**

"That may be how things work in the Muggle world, but here in the wizard world, post runs every day." Remus said.

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one-**

"**Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"He did NOT just throw my son!" Lily screamed as she added to her list.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts of his moustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes, ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"He's gone mad, hasn't he?" Remus said with glee.

"If anyone deserves madness, it's him," Sirius said with equal pleasure.

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later, they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding towards the motorway. Dudley was sniffling in the backseat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, video and computer in his sports bag.**

"Finally they discipline him," said Snape, and the Gryffindors nodded, not realising who they were agreeing with.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turning and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake 'em off… shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programmes he'd wanted to see and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"That's Harry's life brat," said Lily in satisfaction.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets.**

"If he catches something because of you, Petunia, I WILL figure out a way to make you pay." Lily said in a deadly voice.

**Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the window-sill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering…**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these up at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr. H. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"I don't blame her, it must have looked pretty strange," James said, interrupting himself for a second, and then continuing to read.

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining-room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

"He should listen to her, she may not like magic, but she does know a little about it. After all, she grew up with me," Lily said, exasperated with her sister's behavior.

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multi-storey car park.**

"I agree with Remus and Sirius, Vernon Dursley has officially gone mental," said Lily with relish. She had only met the man once, at his and Petunia's wedding, and had thought him a pompous idiot. So far, he had done nothing in the book to make her change her opinion of him.

James nodded, and continued.

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"He really is mental if his idiot son can recognize it," said Snape with a sneer.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, looked them all inside the car and disappeared.**

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television.**_**"**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it **_**was**_** Monday, and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" James, Sirius, and Remus shouted.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun- last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat-hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"WHAT! They can afford to get their pig of a son thirty-nine gifts, but they can't afford to get my son any sort of decent present!" Lily shouted. None of the others, except Snape who looked like he didn't care, were looking murderous.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"At least he's looking on the bright side," said James sadly. If only he and Lily were alive, then he could give his son a birthday to remember!

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer when Aunt Petunia asked what he'd bought.**

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out to sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"Poor Dudley will have to live like Harry for another night," said Sirius in a fake whine.

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowing boat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a packet of crisps each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire with the empty crisp packets, but they just smoked and shrivelled up.**

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them out here in a storm to deliver the mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"I agree with my Lily-Flower's earlier statement: if my son catches _anything_, the Dursleys _will_ pay." James said with anger in his voice.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned out by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to cave in, though he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they returned that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

Lily let out a little moan at this, though when everyone looked at her she motioned for James to keep reading.

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds… twenty… ten- nine- maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him… three- two- one-**

**BOOM.**

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"And that is the end of the chapter," James said, as he handed the book to Lily. "Keep reading, I want to know who's at the door.

"It's probably someone who wants to know why Harry isn't answering his letters," Lily said as she opened the book. Hermione and Ginny just smiled, they knew what happened next.

**(A/N: So sorry the updates haven't been very frequent, and as I just finished this chapter, it'll probably be about a week or so until the next update. Thanks for all reviewers and those who have favorite/followed this story. Means a lot guys!)**


	5. Chapter 5

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ What happens when two people accidentally create a stitch in time and end up being transported to the past? While you're thinking about that, I'm gonna add three Marauders, Lily, Severus, Professor Dumbledore, and the Harry Potter books. Curl up, relax, and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**A/N: **We get some new characters in this chapter! To find out who, read on...

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter Four: The Keeper of Keys**

James passed the book to Lily, who opened it. She was about to start reading when Ginny turned to Hermione and said, "I just remembered that we're supposed to go get the other four now, and they can enter through the re-opened Stitch."

Hermione looked just as confused as everybody else for a second, before her face cleared. "That's right!" she said excitedly. "We can open the Stitch now, while the others take a break, and collect the four from the past."

Professor Dumbledore, whom most had forgotten was there, said, "What is this Stitch you keep talking about?" The past students stared. They were surprised that Albus Dumbledore didn't know something.

Hermione and Ginny, however, weren't that surprised. Hermione smiled, "The Stitch in Time is basically a place _between _times. To create the Stitch in Time, or Stitch, you use a sort of double-ended portal. One end of the portal is set in your present. To create the other, you use a spell to set the time you want to bridge the gap between. When you get there, you use another spell to create the portal. The portal itself is rather tricky. Both ends of it have to be in the same room and it requires two to work the necessary spells. Once the Stitch has been created, it will stay intact as long as both the spell casters are in the room. So, while we're collecting people, time will pass as normal. But when we're reading, nothing outside this room will change."

Ginny interrupted Hermione before she bored them all to death. "I'm really not surprised you haven't heard of it, Headmaster. The two of us just invented it for the purpose of coming here." There were some exclamations of shock at this, but Ginny either didn't hear or didn't care. "Professor, would you mind writing some notes for us?" She went over to tell him what they should say.

When Dumbledore had written the notes to the satisfaction of Ginny and Hermione, the two time travellers left. They had four people to collect, and only limited time to do so. The sooner they got back to the Room of Requirement and re-established the Stitch, the better.

Minerva McGonagall was confused. But then, who wasn't these days? What with the war going on and everything. But this was more than confusing; it was baffling. She had been in her office, marking, when a note written with Albus Dumbledore's handwriting zoomed in through her open office door. It read:

_Minerva:_

_I have recently come into possession of some information that could change the course of the war. I, along with other trusted and important individuals, have been examining the information and felt quite strongly that you should join us. Please proceed immediately to the corridor on the seventh floor containing the tapestry with the dancing trolls and enter through the door across the corridor._

_Albus Dumbledore_

She knew that this was Albus' handwriting, but that didn't explain the strangeness of his request. For one thing, there was no door across the corridor from the tapestry of the dancing trolls.

When Minerva reached the corridor, she was expecting trouble. Death Eater trouble. After all, what else could it be but a trap? There was no door there. But… if that was the case, why was there a door there?

Minerva let out a sigh of relief and opened the door and went inside.

Frank Longbottom, Ravenclaw, and his girlfriend of a year Alice Prewett, Hufflepuff, were looking for an unoccupied broom closet, much easier said than done on a rainy Saturday morning.

They had finally found one, and just gotten settled for a serious snog session, when the closet door opened (apparently without any aid) and an owl flew in, dropping a letter on Alice's lap, then swooping out again. The door swung shut behind it.

"That was strange," Frank commented. Alice reached for the note in her lap and glanced at the address.

"Hey, it's for both of us!" she said in surprise. She proceeded to read it aloud.

_Frank Longbottom and Alice Prewett,_

_Have you ever wondered what the future holds for you? I have, still do as a matter of fact. I am now in the unique position of being able to tell you._

_Of course, I can't just _tell _you, you have to earn the knowledge._

_You can start by making the choice to know more. If you are interested, come to the room across from the tapestry of the dancing trolls on the seventh floor. You should be aware that this is not an oppourtunity given to all. The people who travelled back to this time from the future have to give you the oppourtunity, and your future selves had to _earn _it. I don't know what you've done in the future, but it really earned the respect of the time travellers._

_Please make your decision quickly._

_Albus Dumbledore_

Alice looked at Frank. "I don't know about you Frankie, but I want to know…this opportunity has really caught my attention."

Frank hesitated a moment before nodding. "I know what you mean Alie. Should we go now?" Alice nodded and they headed out the door and up to the seventh floor. They saw the door and, glancing quickly at each other (wondering if they were doing the right thing), and entered the Room of Requirement.

Regulus Black was walking along the corridor outside the Slytherin common-room. He was on his way back from Quidditch practice and was mulling over how the team had performed during said practice. Then he heard it, a voice calling his name.

"Regulus…Regulus Black," it said in a teasing tone. Regulus couldn't tell if it was a male or female voice, but he did know it likely meant trouble. It was entirely too possible that it was his former brother and his friends, who called themselves the Marauders. He'd been a prank victim to many times to not be careful when he hear strange voices calling his name.

"Regulus… Regulus Black…I know the future, and the future that awaits you isn't pleasant… So I have a question for you…If you had the chance to change you're fate, would you take it? Because I am offering that chance…All you have to do is trust me…"

Regulus shuddered. The voice creped him out, but if it spoke the truth and knew what fate had in store for him…. He wasn't sure, but he thought he wanted to know. Although, there was the whole, "your future is unpleasant" thing… Did he dare ask?

He knew what his parents would say. There was no way they would ask for the answer, and they'd encourage him to do the same. But did he really want to live the way his parents wanted him to? Did he really want to sign on with the Death Eaters? No, he didn't. But that was what was in store for him if he didn't change now. He sometimes envied Sirius for having the guts to be himself around Mother.

So the question remained, did he want to know, or not?

"Regulus… Regulus Black… You must hurry and make your choice…I only have a limited amount of time before I have to return to the others who wish to know their fate…"

The voice startled Regulus for a moment, then he realised what it was saying. There were others learning their fate? He put that out of his mind for the time being. He still needed to decide if he was going to learn his fate.

He thought for a moment more than thought, _"What would my brother do?" _For Regulus had always looked up to his brother, besides the fact that Sirius was his older brother, Sirius had no fear of their parents and had the guts to leave them, to do the opposite of whatever they wanted.

Regulus turned abruptly. He had made his decision. He would learn of his fate, and do what he could to change it for the better. Maybe he could reconcile with Sirius, move in with him. According to his parents, Sirius had his own flat now, purchased with money Uncle Alphard left him.

He faced the stairs and spoke. "I trust you. I'm ready to learn my fate, and the steps I need to take to change it for the better. Just…can you promise me something?"

"What do you desire Regulus Black…I can not promise to grant it…but I will do my best…"

"Help me reconnect with my brother, Sirius. Please."

The voice was silent for a moment, then said, "I will…Now please proceed to the seventh floor and the tapestry with the dancing trolls…I will meet you there…"

Regulus frowned. He couldn't imagine why the voice wanted him to go there, but he had said he would trust the voice, and so he would do as it asked.

When he arrived in the corridor, he was surprised to see two girls, about seventeen and eighteen, standing by the tapestry he had been told to go to.

He stopped warily, "Who are you?"

The younger red-headed girl turned to face him and spoke in the voice used by the voice. "I am Ginny Potter _ne__é_ Weasley and this is Hermione Granger. We come from the future, to change things. Even though we won the war, the future is still not that great of a place. Too many people had to die, far too many."

When he heard that, he was reassured. "So you want my help to change things?"

Ginny answered again, this time using what must have been her natural voice. "Yes. In the future, you proved to be a very important source of help. We have brought with us seven books that explain things about the downfall of Voldemort in extremely accurate detail. The books focus on Harry James Potter's seven Hogwarts years."

Hermione added, "Harry is my best friend and the son of Lily Evans and James Potter. We have given them the same choice we gave you. We also gave it to Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Alice Prewett, Frank Longbottom and your brother Sirius."

Regulus looked shocked. "My brother also got the chance to change his fate? The two girls nodded.

"We will go through first and tell the others that you are coming. We should warn you now that any hexing, jinxing, charming, or cursing of anyone in the Room will not be tolerated. Your memory of the events in the Room will be wiped and you will be forced to leave." Hermione said very seriously.

Regulus nodded, he wouldn't hex his brother anyway, and the girls went through the door. After a moment, Ginny poked her head back through. "We're ready for you now." And with that, Regulus also entered the Room of Requirement.

_About half an hour earlier:_

After Ginny and Hermione left, people broke off to do their own thing for a while, until the reading began again. Sirius, Remus, and (quite surprisingly) Snape were discussing what the books had contained so far and how they could change them. Professor Dumbledore was sitting quietly, absorbed in his own thoughts and occasionally commenting on the plans-in-progress the others were making.

This left James and Lily to themselves. James thought about what he had realised during the reading and said to Lily, almost hesitantly, "Lily, don't feel like you have to be with me just because of what the books say. I know you don't like me in _that _way, and the girls brought us the books so we could make changes, and if that's one of the changes you want to make, well, I can't say I'd be okay with that, but I'd understand and-"

Lily cut him off with a kiss. This one, unlike the last, wasn't just a short peck. No, this was a _kiss_, a kiss that seemed to go on for hours, or even days. It wasn't hot, heavy, or anything like that, but it didn't need to be. Both participants felt that it was exactly right.

Eventually, James' lungs were screaming that he needed air, but he didn't want to break the kiss. Lily saved him from having to do so by breaking it herself. She looked him right in the eye and said, "James, the only reason I was shocked when the book said we were married was because I didn't think _you _could ever really feel that way about me. Not because I don't like you in that way. I," she hesitated for just a moment before making the plunge, "love you more than anything James. I probably always have, it just took me awhile to realise that I do."

James looked into her eyes, reveling in the sight of her emerald orbs, and pulled her closer. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "I love you to, my Lily Flower. Never forget that, never doubt it." She smiled and kissed him again.

Then, James asked her to go with him on the next Hogsmede trip and she eagerly accepted.

After this, the two joined in the conversation with the others.

After about another five minutes or so, the door to the outside world opened and Professor McGonagall walked in. She looked around, confused, and saw the Headmaster.

"Albus! What on earth did you mean in that note? How is there a room here? And what are all these students doing here as well?" She was confused, and being confused made her a little angry.

"Minerva, I do not have the right to explain more than I already have. These, along with four others that are being collected as we speak, are the 'trusted individuals' I spoke of in my note. There will be explanations, but I think it would be best if we waited until everyone arrives and the door to the outside world is closed once more."

McGonagall nodded and sat in the chair that appeared beside Dumbledore. She and the Headmaster began discussing things pertaining, although McGonagall didn't know it, to what they had already read. Things like, making sure the enchanted quill that wrote the addresses on the start of term letters was watched. The rest split off into their own conversation. Sirius, Remus, and James were apologizing to Severus for how they had treated him over the years and Severus apologized to Lily for calling her a Mudblood at the end of fifth year. Lily, in turn, apologized to James for being so cruel in her insults when he had asked her out and to Severus for not accepting his apologies in fifth year. James apologized to Lily for being so much of an annoyance and humiliating her all the time. Sirius apologized to Severus and Remus for pulling the 'prank' at the end of the previous year. Basically, it was just a big apology fest.

After another five minutes, the door opened again and Alice Prewett walked in holding Frank Longbottom's hand. They also asked for an explanation, but consented to wait until the time travelers returned with the final member of their group. They sat on a loveseat that appeared in between Severus' and Sirius' chairs.

It was fifteen minutes until the door opened. Ginny and Hermione stepped in and Hermione said to the Room at large, "I would just like everyone to remember that we have a 'no hexing, cursing, jinxing, or charming _anyone_ in the Room at any time or for any reason' policy."

There were nods around the Room and Ginny stuck her head out the door. After a moment, Sirius' brother Regulus Black stepped in. There was silence around the Room, then Sirius started asking for a reason why his little brother was here. Regulus inwardly winced a little. He was happy Sirius still thought of him as his little brother, but sad that his arrival wasn't greeted as well as it could have been.

Luckily, Frank spoke up. "When we received our summons to join you, we got a note from the Headmaster. One of the things on this note was," he pulled out the note from his pocket and read:

_You should be aware that this is not an oppourtunity given to all. The people who travelled back to this time from the future have to give you the oppourtunity, and your future selves had to _earn _it. I don't know what you've done in the future, but it really earned the respect of the time travellers._

"So that suggests that Regulus' future self did something that earned the time travelers' respect."

Everyone looked at Ginny and Hermione. Ginny gave a little laugh and said, "Don't look at me. There are still some things about all of this I don't know, especially about Harry's seventh year. All I know is that when we were planning this, Hermione was adamant that he be included."

Everyone turned to Hermione who said, "You'll see." She then took their seats. Regulus sat in between Severus and Dumbledore, in the chair that appeared.

Ginny remained standing in front of her seat and everyone looked at her, "Now, a quick explanation for those who have recently joined us." She took a deep breath before beginning. "Hermione and I are from the year 1999. Voldemort was defeated about a year ago now. But too many people lost their lives fighting for our side. We are here to change that. We brought with us seven books about the life of Harry James Potter. I'll just give you a quick recap on what we've read so far." Frank, the Ravenclaw, asked the Room for a piece of parchment and a quill and prepared to take notes. "On October 31, 1981, Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow and killed Lily and James Potter." There were exclamations from the others in the Room, but Ginny continued. "Harry was sent to live with his magic-hating aunt, uncle, and cousin. His cousin used Harry regularly as a punching bag and Harry lived in the cupboard under the stairs. He was told nothing of his heritage as a wizard, nor how his parents truly died. He thinks they died in a car crash. We learned, through some of Harry's accidental magic, that Harry speaks Parseltounge, but we don't yet know how that is possible since Lily is Muggleborn and nobody in James' line speaks it. In the last chapter we read, Harry started to get his Hogwarts letters. His aunt and uncle refused to let him read them and even went so far as to leave the house. The last chapter ended with them on a hut on a rock and someone outside knocking to come in. We don't yet know who." Finished her explanation she sat. Hermione handed out the food bags to the newcomers and they got an explanation of how they worked.

Dumbledore turned to Hermione and asked, "Don't you have to re-activate the Stitch?"

Hermione shook her head. "I did that while Ginny was talking. I only took the Stitch down temporarily, so it didn't require that much to reactivate it. Now, whose turn was it to read?"

Lily picked up the book while saying, "My turn." She reopened the book to the fourth chapter.

**(A/N: So that's it for today! I'd like to take this time to reply to all my wonderful comments, and thank all those who have reviewed/favorited/followed. Thanks guys!**

**Dawn Elliot: I would love it if you could be my beta! Sorry I haven't gotten to you before now, life has just been horrid and writting has had to take a backseat. I'll PM you when I have the next chapter ready to go up.**

**Luka'sBlade: Thanks for that! I don't know if Ginny's really mad at Dumbledore, I just think she thinks that his actions weren't the best under the circumstances. She understands that she can't be angry at him because he hasn't done it yet, but she also can't really help it. Sorry that I didn't make it clearer!**


	6. Chapter 6

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

A/N: I think the last chapter has the same title as this one, so if it does…sorry! I was going to add in Regulus, Alice, Frank, and McGonagall quickly and then do the rest of the chapter, but adding the characters was taking longer than I thought it would, so I decided to do a short chapter and then do the actual chapter four from the original book in a different chapter. So again, sorry for any confusion!

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 4: The Keeper of Keys**

Lily opened the book. Ginny was inwardly wondering if it was wise to have her read this chapter, but there really didn't seem to be anyway to get the book away from her without causing suspicion, so Ginny stayed quiet.

**Chapter four: The Keeper of Keys**

"Sounds like Hagrid, that is, if he's still the keeper of keys at this time," Frank said. "But what is he doing here?"

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

**"Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"It would be almost impossible for him to say it any other way, since he _is _stupid," James said. "And what's a cannon?"

"A cannon is something Muggles used in the Middle Ages to knock holes in other peoples' houses, ships, castles, and other things like that," Lily said before turning back to the book.

**There was a crash behind then and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands- now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"HE BROUGHT A GUN INTO A HOUSE WITH TWO ELEVEN YEAR OLDS! IS MY IDIOT SISTER'S HUSBAND RETARDED? SOMEONE COULD GET SERIOUSLY HURT!" Lily yelled, forgetting that she was supposed to be reading.

"What's a gun?" Regulus almost didn't want an answer.

"It's a Muggle weapon that, with proper aim, could best be described as the equivalent to the Killing Curse with the aid of a physical object." As Hermione explained, there were gasps of horror around the room from the Purebloods. Some of them couldn't believe how foolish Vernon Dursley was for having an object that dangerous around two children.

Lily scribbled furiously on her list before giving it to James so he could add things while she read. Then she continued to read, though her tone was a little stiffer than usual.

"**Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you- I'm armed!"**

**There was a pause. Then-**

**SMASH!**

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway.**

"Ah, Harry. He's only half giant," Sirius said teasingly.

"I was right!" Frank said happily. "It is Hagrid!"

"No one disagreed, love," Alice said, looking very relaxed leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder. "They know better than to second-guess your Ravenclaw intelligence."

**His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy main of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Harry sure has some great descriptions in this," Severus said.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"**

"Typical Hagrid," smiled Professor Dumbledore.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

The Marauders cheered at the thought of Hagrid saying this to Dudley Dursley, whom nobody particularly liked (other than the time travellers, and even they only liked him a little). Lily turned to Alice, who was a close friend of hers; even though they were in different houses, and said, "Remind me to get Hagrid a larger Christmas present than usual, this year." Alice laughed and nodded.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into a fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."**

Lily was sniffing a little and James pulled her closer.

Remus turned to the time travelers. "Does he really look like Prongs with Lily's eyes?"

Hermione nodded and Ginny pulled a picture out of her pocket, which she passed around the circle. It was of Harry as he was now, eighteen, almost nineteen, and his moving picture smiled sadly at all of them. He looked quite depressed.

Everyone was silent. Harry should have known how much he looked like his parents long before this. Eventually, Lily calmed down enough to read.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"Thank goodness," Professor McGonagall said and the others nodded. The gun had been making them all nervous.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"**Anyway- Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here- I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squished box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Harry**_** written on it in green icing.**

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and instead what he said was, "Who are you?"**

"HARRY JAMES POTTER _WHERE_ ARE YOU MANNERS?" Lily screamed. Then she thought of some and turned to Ginny and Hermione. "Harry does have manners, right?"

Ginny nodded while Hermione said, "Usually he's one of the most polite guys around. I don't know what happened here, he must have just been in shock or something." Lily nodded and continued to read.

**The giant chuckled.**

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous arm and shook Harry's whole arm. **

"**What about that tea than, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no to summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

Lily interrupted herself momentarily. "Hagrid, you will not be drinking alcohol in front of my son."

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled crisp packets in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt warmth wash over him as thought he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a large copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs and a bottle of some amber liquid which he took a swig from before starting to make tea. Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

James scoffed, "Like Hagrid would give that git anything."

"Language, James," Lily said before continuing to read.

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' up any more, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Told you," James said smirking.

"Nobody doubted you, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said sternly, though the effect was marred slightly by a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. "Now, kindly be quiet and let Miss Evans read."

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"That's much better, Harry," Lily said, referring to her son's manners.

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm keeper of keys at Hogwarts- yeh'll know all about Hogwarts o' course."**

"No he doesn't," Sirius said darkly, "because his _relatives_ didn't think it fit for them to explain to him."

"They deserve whatever's coming to them," Alice said while nodding her head. She had only been listening a short while, and already felt that the Dursleys were worse that idiots, and Harry was a sweet boy who deserved a family.

Frank grinned suddenly. "And knowing Hagrid, it'll be good- for us, but very bad for them."

"**Er- no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"Don't be sorry Harry. It's not your fault you don't know about magic, it's your aunt and uncle's." Remus said sadly. Nobody deserved to be treated like Harry had.

"_**Sorry?" **_**barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't getting' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cyrin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"**

"**All what?" asked Harry.**

"**ALL WHAT?"**

"Ouch! Lily, my Flower, did you have to yell?" asked James, rubbing his ears. She was sitting on his lap, after all, and the yell had been right in front of him. Besides him, Remus was also rubbing his ears- werewolf senses and all.

"Yes," she said grinning cheekily. "It's in capital letters. That means I have to yell." She spoke as though explaining something to a small child.

**Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy- this boy!- knows nothin' abou'- about ANYTHING?"**

"Lily!" James said in exasperation, "Do you have to yell?"

She smiled sweetly. "We already went over this, Jamie, and since it is written in capitals, I have to yell it."

Hermione, meanwhile, had her head buried in her hands.

"What's up?" asked Regulus, noticing her discomfort, which was mirrored on Ginny's face.

"Harry will probably take this the wrong way," Ginny explained.

"But Hagrid only means about the magic world," Sirius said in confusion.

"But Harry doesn't know magic even exists," Severus explained.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"**I know **_**some **_**things," he said. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff."**

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our **_**world, I mean. **_**Your **_**world. **_**My **_**world. **_**Yer parents' **_**world."**

"**What world?"**

**Hagrid looked like he was about to explode.**

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

"**But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous. You're **_**famous."**

"**What? My- my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"**Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are?" **_**he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"**Kept **_**what **_**from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"Drama queen," Alice muttered under her breath.

**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid.**

"Please do," said Sirius.

"**Harry- yer a wizard."**

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling of the wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a **_**what?" **_**gasped Harry.**

"Great reaction, son," said James sarcastically while Ginny and Hermione shook their heads in exasperation.

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum and dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to **_**Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. **_

"Precise as always, I see," said Professor McGonagall, shaking her head slightly.

**He pulled out the letter and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr. Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

**Minerva McGonagall**

**Deputy Headmistress**

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"Great first question," Frank said sarcastically.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl- a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl-**

"Poor owl," said Alice with care.

**a long quill ad a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note which Harry could read upside down:**

_**Dear Mr. Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

**Harry realised his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

"**He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the greatest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

The air grew thick once again, and once again Albus Dumbledore had to calm himself down using meditation. After several minutes of silence, during which James added _tried to stop Harry from coming to Hogwarts_ to Lily's list, the air was back to normal and Lily continued reading.

"**You **_**knew?" **_**said Harry. "You **_**knew**_** I'm a- a wizard?"**

Remus snorted, "Of course she knew. She grew up with the Lovely Lily here."

"Plus," added Lily, "she was there when Severus first told me that all the strange things I was doing was magic, and when he explained the wizarding world to me."

Seeing some surprised looks, Severus elaborated. "I lived near Lily when we were kids." The room nodded and Lily found her place on the page.

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew! **_**Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that- that **_**school**_**- and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was- a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

Lily's voice shook and James pulled her back against him. However, when Hermione offered to take the book so she could read, Lily shook her head.

"Did you ever turn teacups into rats?" Sirius asked curiously when Lily had calmed down a little. Lily nodded.

"Muggleborns are allowed to do that once, just to show their parents that they really are learning magic," Professor McGonagall explained.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"**Then she met that Potter boy at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as- as- **_**abnormal-**_** and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we go landed with you!"**

"Way to tell him how his parents really died," Alice said, shaking her head.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world know his name!"**

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

"Poor Hagrid," said Professor Dumbledore shaking his head slightly. "He wouldn't want to be put in this position, nor would he want Harry to be in the position he is in."

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble getting' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh- but someone's gotta- yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh- mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great mist'ry, parts of it…"**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with- with a person called- but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world know-"**

"**Who?"**

"**Well- I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Gulpin' Gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…"**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah- can't spell it. All right- **_**Voldemort.**_**" Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this- this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too- some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… Terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him- an' he killed them. Horribly. On o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then anyway.**

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a with an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ty is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em out of the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an'-an'"**

Lily suddenly dropped the book and leaned back in James' arms and just cried softly for a while. She cried that her and James' lives were over so young. She cried for currently unborn son, who never got to meet them, or anyone who would tell him about them. She just cried.

She wasn't the only one. Alice was also crying into Frank's shoulder. Professor McGonagall was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. James had a few tear tracks, as did Sirius, Frank and Remus. Severus and Regulus looked sad as well, though he wasn't crying. Hermione and Ginny were sniffling a little as well. Professor Dumbledore was neither sniffling nor crying, though he did look very solemn and the twinkle in eyes wasn't there.

After about ten minutes, Lily and the others were calm enough to continue reading.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's sad- knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find- anyway-**

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then- an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing- he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just like killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh- took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even- but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, 'an he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age- the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts-"**

"My family?" said Alice in shock.

Ginny nodded. "Yes, Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon." Alice looked confused and Ginny added, "My mother's Molly Prewett, well, Molly Weasley now." Alice nodded, while looking shocked that the twins, her favourite cousins, died in the future. Internally, she made a vow that this would be one of the things she'd change, if she could.

"**an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before- and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life- a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Those listening shuddered, they all knew it was Voldemort's laugh. But Hermione and Ginny were remembering the first time they had heard that laugh in the next war.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbldore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…"**

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"**Now, you listen here boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured-"**

Lily dropped the book again. "They didn't beat him, did they?" she asked looking very worried.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, then Hermione said, "Not as far as we know. We really don't know a ton about Harry's pre-Hogwarts years- they weren't something he liked to talk about."

"**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion- asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types- just what I expected, always knew they'd meet a sticky end-"**

There was growling now, coming from Sirius. He did _not _like the way this…ignorant Muggle spoke about his family. James was his brother, and Lily was his sister. Any insult to them was a reason for him to fight the offender. He snatched the list away from James and added to it, then handed it back.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley- I'm warning you- one more word…"**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"**But what happened to Vol- sorry- I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"Harry," said James while shaking his head, "don't be afraid of the name. It's just a name."

"Oh, trust me," said Hermione, grinning, "he isn't. He mostly did this for the benefit of others, though it stops after a few chapters."

"**Good question, Harry." Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was getting' more an' more powerful- why'd he go?**

"**Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on this side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they couldn've done that if he was comin' back.**

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause there's somethin' about you that finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night that he hadn't counted on- **_**I**_** dunno what it was, no one does- but somethin' about you stumped him all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his entire life being clouted by Dudley and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"Oh, Harry," said Alice fondly. "It doesn't work quite like that."

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

"**Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared, or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened hwen he, Harry, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even meaning to? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"Harry, you didn't set it on him, you just set it free," said Remus.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard- you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish- spell books and wands and-"**

"**If he wants to go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son from goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, Albus Dumbled-"**

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

Those in the room began shaking their heads, they all knew how protective Hagrid was of Professor Dumbledore, but none of them felt sorry for Vernon Dursley. Whatever happened next, he deserved it.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head. "NEVER-" he thundered, "-INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLDEORE- IN- FRONT- OF- ME!"**

**He brought the umbrella swishing down throught he air to point at Dudley- there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal and next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

There was silence for a moment, then everybody burst out laughing at once.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm- er- not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff- one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job-"**

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" yelled Lily. "THAT'S PERSONAL!"

"Regardless of how personal it is, we still find out next year," said Hermione.

Lily huffed angrily, but chose to continue reading instead.

"**Oh, well- I was at Hogwarts meself but I- er- got expelled ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

"**Why were you expelled?"**

"**It's getting' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly.**

Sirius snickered. "That wasn't obvious at all."

"**Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"And that," said Lily while marking their place, "is the end of the fourth chapter." She passed the book to Sirius, who groaned loudly. He _really _disliked reading. James handed Lily back her list.

Before he could begin reading again, Hermione interrupted. "I think that this'll be the last chapter before we head to bed, it'll be a long day tomorrow." There were nods around the room and Sirius opened the book.

"This looks like it might be interesting, as it's Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley," he said before beginning to read.


	7. Chapter 7

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 5: Diagon Alley**

**Chapter 5, **Sirius read, **Diagon Alley.**

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

"**It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"That's really depressing for him to think it's all a dream," said Severus almost gently.

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, than back at the room. "That's Harry," they said together.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

"**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

"But it wasn't a dream," Regulus said in a childish tone that sparked laughter around the Room. "It wasn't a dream!"

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

"**All right," harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered on to the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

"**Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl-"**

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted on the sofa.**

"**What?"**

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing **_**but **_**pockets- bunches of keys-"**

"Well, he is the Keeper of Keys," said James as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"**slug pellets, balls of string, mint humbugs, teabags… finally Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

"Our money's not strange-looking," Regulus objected.

"It is to Muggles, which is what Harry was raised at," explained Frank, who took Muggle Studies.

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"He won't know what those are," said James sadly.

"We'll make sure our son knows this time around," said Lily determinedly.

"**Knuts?"**

"**The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched.**

"Sure, _now_ he gets up," said Severus sarcastically.

"Be nice," Lily scolded. "He probably wanted to start teaching Harry the ways of the wizarding world as soon as he could."

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something which made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"**Um- Hagrid?"**

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

"**I haven't got any money- and you heard Uncle Vernon last night- he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"He doesn't need to worry," said James confidently. "Since Harry didn't grow up in the magic world he won't know this, but the Potters are loaded. Lily and I will have left everything to him."

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh with anything?"**

"**But if their house was destroyed-"**

"Why would we keep our gold in the house?" James wondered.

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizard's bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold- an' I won' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

"**Wizards have **_**banks?**_**"**

"Muggles have banks," said Frank, "why is it so surprising that wizards would do the same?"

Nobody had an answer for him.

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

"_**Goblins?"**_

"**Yeah- so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that."**

Ginny grinned as Hermione blushed and tried to hide her face. She decided to poke a little fun at her friend, discretely of course. She couldn't have the people from the past figure out about either of the Gringotts break-ins before they occurred. "Mad to try indeed- right Hermione?" Hermione turned even redder and gestured for Sirius to keep reading.

"**Never mess with goblins Harry."**

"You should really have listened to Hagrid, Hermione. You would know from experience," Ginny said while grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"**Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe- 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you- getting' things from Gringotts- knows he can trust me, see.**

"That's certainly true," said Dumbledore while nodding.

"**Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out on to the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

"**How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. **

"**Flew," said Hagrid.**

"_**Flew?" **_

"**Yeah- but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

Alice snorted. "Yeah because that really stopped you last night."

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

The Marauders that were present laughed. "Well, it is an amusing image," Remus explained when they got some strange looks from the others. They all started laughing as they tried also tried to picture it.

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter-er-speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

"**Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat and they sped off towards land.**

"Again," said a laughing Alice, "very good with the 'no magic once you've got Harry' rule." The room joined her laughter.

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

"Yes, Mione, why?" Ginny said with an innocent expression. Sirius decided to spare the other time traveler and continued reading.

"**Spells- enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "they say there's dragons gaurdin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way- Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet. **_**Harry had learnt from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if there ever was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"Wait a second," Regulus said, causing Sirius to stop reading and look at his younger brother. "Isn't Cornelius Fudge a sixth year Hufflepuff?" The question was mostly addressed to Alice, who was the only Hufflepuff in the room, and the teachers.

Alice nodded while Professor McGonagall snorted with disdain. "That fool!" she said with annoyance. "He doesn't know a thing about Transfiguration! Or any other magic for that matter! How on earth did he become Minister?"

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, not knowing the answer, and just shrugged. Sirius kept reading.

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do?"**_

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

"**Why?"**

"_**Why?**_** Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper and they clambered up the stone steps on to the street.**

**Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Oh, Hagrid," said Professor McGonagall fondly.

"**Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons **_**at Gringotts?"**

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

"**You'd **_**like**_** one?"**

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid- here we go."**

**They had reached their station. There was a train to London in a few minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand 'Muggle money', as he called it, gave the notes to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

Lily smiled happily. "I'm so glad I taught him to knit," she said with a sigh.

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

**Uniform**

_**First year students will require:**_

_**Three sets plain work robes (black)**_

_**One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**_

_**One pair protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**_

_**One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothing should carry name tags**_

"I never understood the need for the hats, I mean we never wear them," Lily said.

Hermione grinned and said, "Well, they're very good at putting out fires. I would know." Everyone, even Ginny, looked at her curiously. Hermione grinned wider thinking of Seamus Finnigan and his inability to _not _set things on fire.

**Set Books**

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**_

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) **_**by Miranda Goshawk**_

**A History of Magic **_**by Bathilda Bagshot**_

**Magical Theory **_**by Adalbert Waffling**_

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration **_**by Emeric Switch**_

**One Magical Herbs and Fungi **_**by Phyllida Spore**_

**Magical Drafts and Potions **_**by Arsenius Jigger**_

**Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them **_**by Newt Scamander**_

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection **_**by Quentin Trimble**_

**Other Equipment**

_**1 wand**_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**_

_**1 set glass or crystal phials**_

_**1 telescope**_

_**1 set brass scales**_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

James sighed and shook his head in despair, "I had hoped that rule would have changed."

"**Can we find all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

"Oh Hagrid," sighed Professor McGonagall with affection.

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"It's quite simple, how Muggles manage without magic," Lily said in her 'know-it-all' voice. "They don't know it exists and therefore, don't realise-" Alice chucked a pillow at her, causing her to stop mid-lecture. Sirius continued before Lily could retaliate.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger bars and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full or ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them?**

"Yes," said James and Remus in unison.

**Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks?**

"Yes."

**Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"No." Remus added, "They have no sense of humor, so how could they cook up a joke?"

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"He sensed the charms on the Leaky Cauldron that keep the Muggles from noticing it!? That is extremely advance and difficult magic," Professor Dumbledore said in surprise. He had guessed Harry was powerful, but this was more powerful than he had originally thought.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

"He had better not drink in front of my son," Lily hissed angrily.

"**Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and ****making his knees buckle.**

"Good, I'm glad Hagrid has the sense that he shouldn't be drinking in front of eleven year olds," said Lily with satisfaction.

Sirius suddenly started to laugh. After receiving a glare from both Lily and James, who seemed to think he was laughing at Lily, he explained, "Harry's famous right? I'm picturing the other peoples' reactions when they realise who it is that Hagrid's with." With that pleasant mental picture, the others in the room laughed.

"**Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this- can this be-?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still silent.**

"NO! It can't have!" said Regulus in surprise. The Leaky Cauldron was never completely silent. It was just… wrong. As wrong as the sun rising in the west. Harry was certainly famous if he could make the Leaky Cauldron go completely silent.

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old barman. "Harry Potter… what an honour."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed towards Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

"**Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

At this, Lily's eyebrows shot to the ceiling. "Did Tom just imply that Harry has been in the Leaky Cauldron before?"

James rubbed his girlfriend's back to calm her down. "Don't worry," he soothed, "it was probably because you or I were passing through on our way to Diagon Alley. Or he could just be welcoming Harry back to the world of magic." Lily calmed slightly and gestured for Sirius to keep reading.

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffin on it without realising it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"**Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

"**So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

"**Always wanted to shake your hand- I'm all of a flutter."**

"**Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

"**I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop!"**

"**He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"**

Lily looked slightly alarmed and said, "Is he always this…" she paused while she searched for a word.

"Eccentric?" James suggested with a grin.

Lily smiled back. "I was going to say excitable, but your word works to."

Hermione grinned at the question and said, "Yep, but don't worry. We don't see him again until the seventh book, and only then for a few pages. Although, now that I think about it, he might be mentioned in other places to. We'll have to read to find out!"

Sirius was happy to oblige her. This was likely the first time in his life he had been excited by reading.

**Harry shook hands again and again- Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

"**P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

"**D-defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.**

"Was he a good teacher?" Remus asked with interest.

Hermione shook her head decidedly. "No. That stutter of his made it a nightmare to take notes, plus he was terrified of _everything._"

Lily nodded sympathetically. "That would make it difficult. Did you have any good Defence professors?"

Hermione thought about it and said, "We had an awesome one in third year, by far most peoples' favorite. Sixth year was pretty good, except for how he treated the students. He at least knew the subject. Fourth year would have been good, if it weren't for one thing- which I will not be telling you what that is," she added hastily as she saw mouths open to ask the question. "But other than that, no good Defence teachers."

"Aren't you forgetting one, Mione?" Ginny said with a smile. Hermione looked confused, "Remember our _other _Defense teacher in your fifth year?"

Hermione grinned and nodded before turning to the others and saying, "You'll find out what we mean soon enough. But he was amazing, though still not better than our third year one."

"**N-Not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

"**Must get on- lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh- mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"Can see how he'd be a bad Defense teacher," James said.

"**Is he always that nervous?"**

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag- never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject- now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the dustbin.**

"Oh, Hagrid's showing him how to get into Diagon Alley!" squealed Alice.

"**Three up…two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered- it wriggled- in the middle a small hole appeared- it grew wider and wider- a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.**

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

Lily sighed, "We should have been the ones to take him." James rubbed her back soothingly.

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. **_**Cauldrons- All Sizes- Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver- Self-Stirring- Collapsible **_**said a sign hanging over them.**

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"**

"They _are _mad," said Severus while shaking his head.

**A low, soft hooting noise came from a dark shop with a sign saying **_**Eeylops Owl Emporium- Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy. **_**Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand- fastest ever-"**

"I want one," said James, Sirius, and Regulus in unison.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments that Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…**

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was-**

"**Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

_**Enter stranger, but take heed**_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**_

_**For those who take, but do not earn,**_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn,**_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors**_

_**A treasure that was never yours,**_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware**_

_**Of finding more than treasure there.**_

'**Like I said, yeh`d be mad to try an` rob it," said Hagrid.**

'Mad indeed, right Hermione?" Ginny said with a smirk.

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free Goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

"**You have his key, sir?"**

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid-**

"How would Hagrid get the key to the Potter vaults?" James asked in surprise.

Hermione shrugged, "We never found out for certain, but we assume Professor Dumbledore had it and gave it to Hagrid so they could take money out of the vault."

"You said 'vault,'" James noted. "I know for a fact that the Potter family has more than one vault. How many has he been to, do you know?"

Ginny answered this time. "Harry only had what was in this vault, which was a trust fund until he turned of age, but wasn't able to access it until he turned 18. He was…unavailable on his 17th and after that, circumstances made it impossible for him to go to Gringotts," she explained. "And no, I won't be telling you what the circumstances were, or why Harry was unavailable on his 17th."

**-and he started emptying his pockets on to the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on the right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

"**That seems to be in order."**

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the you-know-what in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

Albus sat up a little straighter at that. He had a surprised look on his face.

"Ooh," said Lily interested, "what's the you-know-what?"

Ginny turned to Hermione and said, "Yes, what's the you-know-what in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Seeing the others' confused looks she elaborated, "I never heard about most of first year."

Hermione just smiled and said, "You'll see."

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid. "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

Hermione snarled at the name. Even though they had been planning on sort of double crossing the goblin, it didn't make his betrayal of them any less sore. Everyone in the room, including Ginny, looked at her with concerned and slightly worried expressions on their faces. Hermione just made a motion for Sirius to continue reading.

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog-biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook towards one of the doors leading off the hall.**

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"That means it's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Professor McGonagall. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out what it could be.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downwards and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed in- Hagrid with some difficulty- and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That's still farther than I've ever managed, and I try every time I go to Gringotts," James said with pride for his future offspring in his voice.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late- they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Well," Frank began in what his friends called his 'professor voice,' "stalagmite is on the ground. The 'g' in stalagmite can stand for ground and-"

"Love," Alice said sweetly, "there's really no nice way to say this. For the sake of our sanity, shut up. I'm sure the book will give us a perfectly acceptable answer, and everyone in this room already knows the difference."

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

"Well, Mione was right earlier," said James smiling. "That's only a trust vault to get him through school."

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's- it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking.**

"Don't worry," said Dumbledore, "This is Harry's and Harry's alone. I wouldn't tell the Dursleys about this."

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep?**

Lily growled and scratched angrily on her list.

**And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe fer yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"But I thought there was only one speed," Lily said, confused. As a Muggleborn, she had never been under Gringotts, but she knew what it was like from what others had told her.

"There is," Regulus quietly assured her.

"**One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled around tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine and Harry leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

"Oh, thank Godric," said Lily with relief evident in her voice. "Harry could have fallen and gotten hurt!"

Hermione had to hold back a snort at that. Harry got hurt plenty, and falling off of a Gringotts cart would be almost nothing.

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"A high security vault, then," mused Remus who, along with Frank, Professor McGonagall, and Lily, was trying to figure out what was in the vault.

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked in through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.**

"Oh, goblins are just awful," said Alice with a shudder.

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leant forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least- but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby-looking package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"That's more than his parents can claim, when they want to know something, they pester a person until they tell them what they want to know," said Sirius teasingly. The rest of the room laughed while Lily and James got a bit pink.

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart-ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life- more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding towards **_**Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. **_**"Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron I hate them Gringotts carts."**

"He better not have abandoned my son on his first trip to Diagon Alley!" Lily said rather sternly.

**He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madame Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

"At least Madame Malkin's nice, she won't harass him too much for being famous," Alice said, trying to comfort Lily.

**Madame Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here- another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"Maybe Harry can make a friend," said Frank hopefully.

Hermione and Ginny had to resist the urge to laugh.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face-**

"This kid sounds like he could be Lucius Malfoy's son," said Regulus.

"If that's the case, I don't want Harry befriending him," said Sirius. James and Remus nodded in agreement.

**-was standing on a footstool while a second plump witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.**

"**Hello," said the boy. "Hogwarts too?"**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands,"**

"What's the point of that?" Lily said in confusion. "I mean, the wand choses the wizard."

**said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice.**

"Definitely Lucius' son," said Regulus.

"**Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"I don't want Harry becoming friends with him," Lily declared. "He's not even at school and he's already considering breaking school rules."

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"**Have **_**you **_**got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**Play Quidditch at all?"**

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"Quidditch is only the best sport ever!" Regulus exclaimed while Sirius and James nodded enthusiastically.

"How could any child of mine not know about Quidditch?" James asked faintly.

"James, love," Lily said sweetly (James gave a little start when he realised what she'd called him), "until last night, our son didn't know anything about the magical world. Muggles don't play Quidditch and I didn't hear Hagrid explaining Quidditch to him, so how could he know anything about it?"

"_**I **_**do- Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"Most likely he'll be in Gryffindor, like his parents," Professor McGonagall said. She, like Professor Dumbledore, had come to the conclusion that, unless something desperately needed to be said, she would stay quiet. She was finding out more about these students from this reading than from just over six (or just over five in the case of Regulus) years of teaching them.

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"Don't feel stupid," said Alice in a motherly way, "It's not _your _fault that Lily's horrible relatives- sorry Lily- chose to raise you like a Muggle and that this is really the first exposure you've had to the wizard world."

"Besides," Professor Dumbledore added, "no one knows what house they'll be in until the Sorting Ceremony."

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been- imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?" Alice asked indignantly.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice-creams to show he couldn't come in.**

"That's nice of Hagrid," said James.

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"I really don't like this kid," said James, narrowing his eyes.

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

"Good," said Sirius.

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage- **_**lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"That's right, put him in his place, pup," said Sirius.

"Pup?" questioned Hermione.

"Um…" said Sirius. He didn't know that the girls already knew about their Animagus forms.

"Oh, it's because of Padfoot, isn't it?" said Ginny.

Sirius' face displayed his shock. "How do you know about that? And do you know about Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail as well?"

Hermione grinned. "To answer your second question: yes."

"And for the first question, they found out in their third year," Ginny said.

"_**Do **_**you," said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel like going into the matter with this boy.**

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were **_**our **_**kind, weren't they?"**

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

"Don't tell him," said Lily protectively. "He'll just try and suck up to you to steal some of your fame."

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice-cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"That's my favorite flavour!" said James.

"Harry's too," Ginny informed him. James looked excited to have something in common with his son.

"**What's up?" said Hagrid.**

"**Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know- not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"Don't make him feel worse," Lily admonished. Nobody dared point out she was talking to a book.

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry.**

Lily blinked while everyone else laughed at the similarity between mother and son.

**He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madame Malkin's.**

"**-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in-"**

"**Yer not **_**from**_** a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were-**_** he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk- you saw 'em in the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, what doew he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles- look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"Indeed," said Lily sadly. Petunia hadn't always been like that.

"**So what **_**is **_**Quidditch?"**

"I still can't believe that Prongs' child doesn't know about Quidditch," said Remus, shaking his head.

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like- like football in the Muggle world- everyone follows Quidditch- played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls- sorta hard to explain the rules."**

"No it's not!" Regulus said loudly.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but-"**

"What's with everybody insulting Hufflepuffs?" Alice asked, glaring at everybody in the room, as if daring them to try and insult her house. The only reason Sirius hadn't been hexed was because he was just repeating the words off the page.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

"There are worse places you could be," said Remus.

"If he's not in Gryffindor, we'll disown future Harry," said James.

"NO WE WON'T!" Lily yelled at him. "We will accept him no matter what house he's in!"

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly.**

Regulus turned to Severus and said, "Should we be insulted?"

Severus shook his head, "No, Hagrid is just stating the popular belief."

"**There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"Okay, now that we know that Voldemort was in our house, we can be insulted." said Severus jokingly.

"**Vol- sorry- You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books at a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps covered with silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from **_**Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more!) **_**by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

"I remember him," said Professor McGonagall suddenly, "he was the Defense teacher about twelve years ago. Very good at his job, unlike some of those who try for the position."

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

Lily groaned at this and buried her head in her hands. "I blame you," she said to James with a glare.

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages.**

"It does sort of smell like that," laughed James.

**Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders lined the walls, bundles of feathers, strings of fangs and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and miniscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

"**Just yer wand left- oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

"**You don't have to-"**

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at- an' I don't like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin'."**

"Typical generous Hagrid," said Lily smiling.

"That was Harry's first ever proper birthday present," said Ginny sadly.

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark= and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage which held a beautiful snow owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now- only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

"That's true," said Remus. "The wand is what gives your magic shape. With a good quality wand that chose you, you have no problem channeling your magic. When you have a bad quality wand, weather it chose you or not, your magic won't be as good and may come out in unintended ways."

**A magic wand… this was what Harry had really been looking forward to.**

"Most do," said Professor McGonagall.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read **_**Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. **_**A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"Sounds like it hasn't changed at all," said Alice with a smile.

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair which Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions which had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped.**

"I think he enjoys making people jump," said Frank. "He did the same thing to me and my parents said he did the same to them."

**Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"Sounds like he hasn't changed either," said Lily.

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

"**Ah, yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"That's my best subject," said Lily, "and that's my wand described exactly." She pulled it out of the pocket of her robes and showed them.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"**Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it- it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

"That's definitely my wand, and Transfiguration's definitely my best subject," said James.

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

"**And that's where…"**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"**

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

"Ollivander has a good memory," commented Regulus.

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in ahlf when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er- yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

"**But you don't **_**use **_**them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

"Don't use them, my foot," said Severus while rolling his eyes. "If he doesn't use them, I'm a toad!"

Hermione and Ginny started giggling at that thought. The others looked at them, but they shook their heads and gestured for Sirius to continue.

"**Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now- Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

"**Er- well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"**Hold our your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.**

"Personally, I think he only measures people to get a chance to talk about his wands," said Sirius.

Professor Dumbledore laughed. A few people started at the sound because they'd forgotten that he and Professor McGonagall were in the room. "That's true, Mr. Black, however it also gives him an idea to what wands will most likely work for that person."

"In other words, the measuring gives them an idea of where to start," said Alice and the headmaster nodded.

**As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as not two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves taking down boxes.**

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right than, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish)-**

"Don't feel foolish," said Lily in her 'mother voice.' "Everybody does it the same way."

**-waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his ahdn almost at once.**

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try-"**

**Harry tried- but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

"**No, no- here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

Ginny smiled. "That's my wand," she said in response to the questioning looks.

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere- I wonder, now- yes, why not- unusual combination- holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots to light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very food. Well, well, well… curious… how very curious…"**

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"**

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but **_**what's **_**curious?"**

Hermione interrupted quickly. "No matter what Ollivander says now, this wand is the best wand for Harry," she said and everybody looked at her, "and no, I'm not going to elaborate. There's also no point in asking Ginny because she doesn't know this part of the story."

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather- just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother- why, its brother gave you that scar."**

Silence reigned in the Room of Requirement. After a minute, or ten, Sirius began reading again.

**Harry swallowed.**

"**Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things- terrible, yes, but great."**

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawping at them on the Underground. Laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the sleeping snowy owl on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realised where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life- and yet- he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things/ I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol- sorry- I mean, the night my parents died.**

Lily, Alice, Ginny, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall had tears in their eyes. Dumbledore's had lost their twinkle. The other boys just looked solemn.

**Hagrid leant across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"**Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, yeh'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts- I did- still do, 'smatter of fact."**

**Hagrid helped Harry onto the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticked fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September- King's Cross- it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me… See yeh soon, Harry."**

Lily gasped, "Hagrid didn't tell Harry how to get onto the platform!"

"He probably expects that Petunia would tell him," said Sirius.

"She won't," said Severus with certainty in his voice.

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid and gone.**

Sirius passed the book onto Frank, who read **"Chapter Six: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters."**

(A/N: So that's that chapter finally finished! Sorry it took so long, but that was a _very _long chapter- 45 pages in the Word document! I'd reply to the comments, but my hands are starting to cramp up- I've been working on this chapter for about an hour and a half now. So, if you've commented, followed, or favorited, thanks for the support and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!

In other news, I've been having some writer's block recently (part of why this took so long) and I started writing this new fic that I'm going to call Kathleen's Crisis. It's going to be a Charlie Weasley/OC pairing, but I'm kindda uncertain weather I want to continue it or not. So, I'm going to post the prolougue and first chapter sometime in the next week. Read it, and leave me a comment if you want me to continue it. If popular demand says continue, then I will continue. That said, this series will still be my priority, so updates for that might be few and far between. It's mostly something to work on when I have writer's block.

Happy reading!

QuidditchSeason1977)


	8. Chapter 8

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters**

Frank was about to continue reading when Alice interrupted. "Didn't we decide that we were going to bed after chapter 5?" she asked.

The group looked at Ginny, who looked at Hermione. "I think we should head to bed. If I'm remembering correctly, this chapter is quite long," Ginny said and Hermione nodded before assuming a look of concentration.

At one end of the Room, two doors appeared. "Girls, we're in the left room, guys are in the right," said Hermione. "If you need anything, just ask the Room."

The next morning everybody assembled in the main room. After breakfast, during which the time travellers got to know the people from 1978, everybody sat back down in their seats from yesterday. Frank picked up the book and began to read.

**Chapter 6: The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters**

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"Is it ever fun there?" asked Severus sarcastically.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything or shout at him- in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

Lily shook her head in disgust and scribbled on her parchment.

**Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

"It sounds like it would," said Sirius.

Lily nodded agreement. "I would know," she said sadly.

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig, a name he had found in **_**A History of Magic. **_**His school books were very interesting. **

"He actually read them?" Hermione said in mock astonishment.

Ginny said to explain to the rest of the room, who didn't know Harry very well yet, and said, "Harry doesn't particularly enjoy reading- not like Mione or Remus. My guess would be he had nothing else to do, so he read his textbooks. That or he wanted to know more about the magic world." The room nodded in understanding.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to hoover any more, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September and first.**

"I do that too," said a smiling Lily. The smile disappeared when she remembered why Harry was so keen for the term to begin.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day-**

"Left it a bit late hasn't he?" said Sirius jokingly.

**-so he went down to the living-room where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"**Er- Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er- I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to- to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

"He speaks troll," said Regulus sarcastically.

"**Would it be alright if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"Harry speaks troll too," said Severus, also sarcastically.

"**Thank you."**

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

"Wow, it's a miracle! Vernon Dursley spoke!" exclaimed Sirius and James in unison, making the others in the Room chuckle a little.

"**Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

Remus snorted, "No, they're illegal."

**Harry didn't say anything.**

"**Where is this school, anyway?"**

"Scotland," said all of the students, past and future.

"**I don't know," said harry, realising this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

"**I just take the train from platform nine and three quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

James' face grew worried for a moment as a thought struck him. "Lily," he asked his girlfriend, who was currently snuggled into his side with her head on his shoulder, "your sister _does _know how to get onto the platform, right?"

Lily nodded. "She's seen me do it enough times to know how," she asked, appearing slightly confused as to why her boyfriend was asking.

"You don't think…she would _tell _Harry how to get on, wouldn't she?" he asked anxiously.

Lily frowned and said, "I would like to think she would, but I don't know… We'll have to read on to find out." James nodded, still worried, and Frank continued.

**His aunt and uncle stared.**

"**Platform what?"**

"**Nine and three quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "there is no platform nine and three quarters."**

"Yes there is," said Alice.

"**It's on my ticket."**

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"**Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

"What's the point?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"**Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

The room laughed at his predicament.

"I wonder how they explained the reason Dudley had a pig's tail," Ginny said thoughtfully.

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes – he'd change on the train.**

"Good thinking," said Professor McGonagall in approval.

**He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge and heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk on to a trolley and wheeled it in to the station for him.**

"This is strangely kind of him," said James suspiciously.

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine – platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word.**

In the Room of Requirement, Remus was growling, but no one could really hear him over Alice yelling something along the lines of, "THE NERVE OF THESE PEOPLE! WHY, IF I WERE THERE THEY'D BE HEXED SO BADLY THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO WALK!" There was more to her rant, but it essentially said the same things. Frank was rubbing calming circles on her back, but his face was angry.

Lily had scribbled onto her list, and she and James were having a little chat.

"Why would she do this?" she said softly.

"I don't know," said James truthfully.

"Do you think there might be a way to prevent her from hating me? I don't want to lose my sister," Lily said sadly.

"I don't know, but I promise, Lily-Flower, I will do whatever I can to help you get her back," he said. "We'll talk later; the others look ready to keep going."

**Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing. Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.**

"Oh no," groaned Remus. "Not a good idea Harry."

**He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three quarters.**

"Good," said Professor Dumbledore. He realised that maybe on September first, they should have people there to help get students on to the platform. He'd mention it the next time he met with the Board of Governors.

**The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry were being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time-wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl.**

"Not the best situation he could be in," said Sirius.

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket box between platforms nine and ten.**

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"**-packed with Muggles, of course-"**

"Oh good," sighed Alice in relief. "A family he can follow or ask directions for the platform."

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him – and they had an **_**owl.**_

Alice perked up a little. "Is that my cousin Molly Weasley?" Hermione and Ginny just grinned.

A thought struck Sirius. "When do we get to meet you two?" he asked.

Ginny grinned wider while Hermione thought. "I'm actually introduced in the next couple of sentences."

"I think I first appear in the next few pages or so, I'm not really certain. Either way, it's in this chapter," Hermione said finally.

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"**Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"**Nine and three quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go…"**

Ginny turned Weasley red.

"So that was little Ginny Weasley," said Lily. Ginny just nodded.

"**You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched towards platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it – but just as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last rucksack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

Both Ginny and Hermione had to keep from sobbing at this. It may have been a year since the Final Battle, but they had still lost him. That was one thing they hoped would change.

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell**_** I'm George?"**

"Twins!" said Sirius, laughing.

"**Sorry, George, dear."**

"**Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.**

"Those two sound like pranksters," said James with delight.

"They are," said Ginny.

"The professors from our time said they could give James and Sirius here a run for their money," Hermione added.

Professor McGonagall moaned.

**His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done it, because a second later, he had gone – but how had he done it?**

**Now the third brother was walking briskly towards the tickets barrier – he was almost there – and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

"Yes he was, Harry," said Sirius, "he was on platform nine and three quarters."

**There was nothing else for it.**

"**Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

"**Hullo, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.**

Ginny giggled. "Well, he certainly got his description of first year Ron right."

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is – the thing is, I don't know how to –"**

"**How to get on to the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

Ginny sighed, "I hate how much Mum interrupts us sometimes."

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"**Er – OK," said Harry.**

**He pushed his trolley round and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

**He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd be in trouble – leaning forward on his trolley he broke into a heavy run – the barrier was coming nearer and nearer – he wouldn't be able to stop – the trolley was out of control – he was a foot away – he closed his eyes ready for the crash –**

"Don't worry, Harry. You're not going to crash," said Lily in a motherly way.

"Yes, Harry, listen to your mother," James said.

Hermione turned to Remus, who was next to her, and asked in an under tone, "Is there any point in telling them that they're talking to a book?"

"No," he said back in the same tone. "They'll keep doing it whether we tell them or not."

Ginny leaned to Hermione and said in a whisper that none heard, "What do you wanna bet that Frank and Alice start talking to the book when Neville is introduced?"

"No bet," Hermione replied, "It's obvious they will." Ginny sighed in exasperation.

**It didn't come… he kept on running… he opened his eyes.**

**A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign over head said **_**Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. **_**Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words **_**Platform Nine and Three Quarters **_**on it. He had done it.**

"Excellent job, Harry!" Sirius praised while Remus nodded.

Lily and James looked melancholy. "What's wrong?" asked Remus as soon as he noticed.

Lily sighed, "That should be us on the platform, seeing him off to Hogwarts for the first time."

James nodded agreement. "He should have had siblings to be jealous that they're not old enough to go to Hogwarts yet. I should have given him a hug, and Lily should have been emotional that our son was going to Hogwarts."

"We'll change things," Regulus said. "That's why we're here, isn't it?"

There was a pause, and then Frank began reading again.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. **

"Same as it is every year then," said Severus.

**Harry pushed his trolley off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"**Oh, **_**Neville,**_**" he heard the old woman sigh.**

Ginny stopped Frank from reading on. "Everybody," she announced, "meet Neville Longbottom, son of Frank and Alice."

Frank and Alice just stared at Ginny and Hermione in shock, while the others shouted their congratulations.

Suddenly Frank frowned. "Where are we?" he asked. "I mean, I understand my mum being there, but why aren't Alice and I?"

Ginny and Hermione looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. The silence went on for a while, until Frank realised that the time travellers either didn't know, or weren't telling, and continued to read.

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk towards the train door. He tried to lift if up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"Ouch," Sirius said, wincing.

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the ticket box.**

The three Marauders and Alice listened more closely.

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"That's right, Harry, mind your manners," Lily said.

"**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

"**Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you -?"**

"**He **_**is,"**_** said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"Great," moaned Alice. "People will be flocking his compartment now."

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Harry Potter,"**_** chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry.**

"Really Harry? Forgetting your own name?" Sirius said teasingly.

"**I mean, yes, I am."**

**The two boys gawped at him and Harry felt himself going red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

"**Fred? George? Are you there?"**

"**Coming, Mum."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half-hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

"**Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"_**Mum – **_**geroff." He wriggled free.**

"**Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

'**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter **_**P**_ **on it.**

"Oh, he's a prefect," said Sirius in disgust.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Remus and Lily indignantly.

"Nothing…" said Sirius unconvincingly.

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves –"**

"**Oh, are you a **_**prefect, **_**Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"**

"**Or twice –"**

"**A minute –"**

"**All summer –"**

"Those two are awesome," laughed James.

Ginny smirked, proud of her brothers (even if one of the twins was dead she was still proud to call them her brothers), "If you think that's awesome, just wait until the fifth book."

"What do they do then?" asked Sirius excitedly. "We need some new ideas."

Ginny's smirk grew. "I'm not telling."

A feeling of dread for whatever the twins did was creeping over Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore looked forward to the entertainment they would bring.

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

"**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

"**Because he's a **_**prefect,**_**" said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term – send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"**Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –"**

"**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

"**it's **_**not funny. **_**And look after Ron."**

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

Alice groaned, "And this is where Harry and his fame get dragged in."

"Don't worry, it's not that bad," said Ginny consolingly. "In fact, this is probably the best reaction to seeing Harry we've had so far in the book."

**Harry leant back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"_**Harry Potter!"  
**_

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

"**Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please…"**

"Somebody has a crush," Sirius teased and Ginny scowled.

"I forgot how much of a fangirl I used to be."

"**You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there – like lightning."**

"**Poor **_**dear**_** – no wonder he was alone. I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get on to the platform."**

"**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

"**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

"**All right, keep your hair on."**

"Thank Merlin Molly managed to persuade the twins not to ask," said Alice in relief.

**A whistle sounded.**

"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered on to the train. They leant out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and their younger sister began to cry.**

"Why were you crying?" asked Lily gently.

"All of my brothers had either left school and lived abroad, or were going to school without me. It was going to be very quiet and lonely that year," explained Ginny. "I also didn't have a great relationship with my parents at this point. Dad was always at work, and Mum had seven of us to look after, so the thought of spending ten months with just them for company wasn't a pleasant one. This year was the year I really bonded with my parents. I also didn't have many girlfriends my age. This was the year I met Luna Lovegood, one of my best friends."

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

"Brilliant," said James.

"I should send one to my parents," laughed Sirius. "Can't you picture their reactions?"

"_**George!"**_

"**Only joking, Mum."**

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded a corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to – but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

"It is, Harry, it definitely is," said Lily and the other teens agreed with her.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked away quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"**Hey, Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

"**Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"Gross," muttered Lily, shivering. "I can't stand spiders," explained to those giving her questioning looks.

"**Right," mumbled Ron.**

"**Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

"**Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

**Harry nodded.**

"At least he recognized his name this time," said Regulus.

"**Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got – you know…"**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

**Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"**So that's where You-Know-Who -?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

"**Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

Lily huffed. "Didn't his mother tell him not to ask?"

"No, she told _Fred _not to ask," said Remus.

"**Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"**Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"**Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

"**Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

Everybody looked at Alice, who nodded. "It's true," she said softly, though everybody heard her. "Though the reason we never talk about him is not because he's a Squib, but because he refused to speak with the rest of us after we found out what he is."

"**So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"Not quite, Harry," said Sirius, laughing.

"**I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"**Horrible – well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though, wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"**Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first.**

"Wow," said Ginny. "I never knew he felt like that." Her expression became thoughtful. "Though I suppose most of it is true: we do have a lot to live up to. It likely didn't help that, as the only girl in the family, I got a lot of attention all of the time. I guess Ron was feeling a little neglected."

Alice sighed sadly. "This time around, I'm going to help Molly as much as I can. Maybe I can spend time with Ron or something…" She asked the Room for parchment and a quill and began a list of things she could do to help Molly out with her kids.

**You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat."**

Professor McGonagall huffed, "Hogwarts has a fund for those who might require financial help. Why are your parents not making use of it?"

Ginny shrugged. "Don't ask me to fathom my parent's minds. At a guess, I'd say pride."

James frowned. "He really should have his own wand."

Alice smiled as she added to her list. "I'll get one for him as a 'going away' gift."

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

"**His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

"Question," Alice said, "What happened to Gideon and Fabien?"

Ginny's face turned sad and Hermione answered the question. "Dead. Next summer."

Alice looked like she might cry. "Those three were always my favorite cousins," she explained.

"Well, this time we can keep them safe. We know what's going to happen and we can change it," said Frank.

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"That's a bit rude of him," said Lily, a little upset.

Ginny smiled. "Ron doesn't mean it in a bad way, he's just glad he's met someone who doesn't care about money or anything like that."

"… **and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort -"**

**Ron gasped.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**You said You-Know-Who's name"**_** said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"**

"**I'm not trying to be **_**brave **_**or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"You won't be," said James confidently. "Both your mother and I are smart, and your mother's a Muggleborn and she's one of the top students in our year. You have nothing to worry about."

"**You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half-past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry –**

"What are Mars Bars?" asked Sirius.

"Muggle sweet," replied Hermione.

**-but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans,**

"My favorite," said James and Sirius.

**Drooble's Best Blowing Gum,**

"Mine," said Frank and Regulus.

**Chocolate Frogs,**

"Mine," said Remus, Ginny, and Snape.

**Pumpkin Pasties,**

"Mine," Alice and Professor McGonagall said.

**Cauldron Cakes,**

"Mine," said Lily.

**Liquorice Wands**

"Mine," said Severus.

**and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life.**

"What's your favorite, Hermione?" asked James.

"Sugar Quills," she said.

"What about you, Professor Dumbledore?" asked Alice.

"Lemmon Drops," he said.

**Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it on to an empty seat.**

"**Hungry are you?"**

"**Starving," said Harry, talking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

"**Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on –"**

"**You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got a lot of time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

"**Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties and cakes (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"So THAT'S how they became friends," said Hermione in exasperation.

"I know what you mean," Ginny nodded in agreement. "It does seem a little anti-climactic when you think about how you and the boys became friends."

The others looked at them confused until Severus said, "What are you talking about?"

Ginny and Hermione looked at the rest of the Room (they had forgotten they were there) and said in unison, "You'll see."

The rest of the Room groaned, and then Frank started reading again.

"**What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not **_**really**_ **frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

"**No," said Ron. "But see what the card is, I'm missing Agrippa."**

"**What?"**

"**Oh, of course, you wouldn't know – Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect – famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache.**

"Professor Dumbledore," said all of the teens loudly. Professor Dumbledore just smiled fondly at them all.

**Underneath the picture was the name **_**Albus Dumbledore**_**.**

"**So **_**this **_**is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"**Don't tell me you've never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. **

"Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head. "Harry just told you that he knew nothing of magic, how would he know who Dumbledore is?"

Ginny snorted. "That's just Ron. He's an idiot, but we love him anyway."

"**Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa – thanks –"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"Really?" said Lily. "I never knew that."

Next to him, Remus could hear (werewolf senses) Hermione whisper, "I can't believe it was on the card the whole time. Curse Harry and his memory." He decided to listen for anything mentioned on the card.

**Harry turned the card back over and say, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

"**He's gone!"**

"**Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of chocolate frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

"**Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"**Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. **_**"Weird!"**_

Ginny burst out laughing. "Ron sounded just like Dad," she said between gasps of air.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.**

"Be careful with those, Harry," said Remus. "When they say every flavour, they mean _every _flavour."

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they saw every flavour, they **_**mean **_**every flavour – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he got a bogey-flavoured one once."**

"Yuck," said Lily as she wrinkled her nose. Ginny was laughing.

"What?" asked Regulus.

"I'm the one who gave George the bogey-flavoured bean!" she gasped out and the rest of the Room laughed with her.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully and bit into a corner.**

"**Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts."**

**They had a very good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, backed bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

"Tough luck," said Severus shaking his head. "Still, could have been worse."

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields were gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three quarters came in. He looked rather tearful.**

"Why is Neville crying?" Alice demanded sharply. "If it's because a student hexed him, I swear I am going to hex their parents."

"**Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

"Oh, that's all," said Alice, looking relieved.

"Hey, I have a toad too!" said Frank, grinning. "His name's Trevor."

Hermione smiled. "That's the name of Neville's toad, too."

Frank grinned and kept reading.

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

"**He'll turn up," said Harry.**

Alice looked at Lily. "Your son's nice. When our kids are born, they should have playdates with each other."

Lily nodded enthusiastically. "That's an awesome idea, Alice! We should invite Ron, too, the three of them are around the same age."

James and Frank groaned. Their boys weren't even born yet, and already would have their first playdate completely planned out.

"**Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"**

**He left.**

"**Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"**

"That's not good," said James worriedly. "He really should get a new wand. An old or broken wand can have a negative effect on your magic."

Alice nodded. "I already said I'd buy him one before his first year," she said.

Ginny grinned suddenly, "I would wait until _after _the beginning of his second year."

"Why?" Alice asked.

"Because," Hermione answered. "Harry and Ron did something unbelievably stupid that resulted in Ron's wand being broken for the rest of the year."

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.**

Hermione groaned.

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"Wasn't that a little pushy?" sad Sirius, looking at Hermione.

"I was an eleven year old Muggleborn that had just discovered magic and was eager to see more. Of course I was a little pushy," she said huffily.

"**Er – all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,**

**Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

The Marauders were roaring with laughter. Severus, Regulus, Alice, and Frank were grinning. The headmaster was twinkling and Lily and Professor McGonagall had small smiles on their faces.

Hermione was grinning and shaking her head at the memory, while Ginny was almost on the floor she was laughing so hard.

"I…can't…b-believe…he…fell…f-for…it," she gasped.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

It was difficult for Hermione and Ginny to hear this much about Scabbers. Their wand hands kept twitching, as if to reach for their wands, every time they heard his name. Unbeknownst to them, Remus and Professor McGonagall had both noticed this strange behavior, and decided to keep an ear out for anything suspicious involving Scabbers.

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

"Merlin, Hermione," said Frank, gasping for air, "Do you always speak so much?"

"Just when I'm nervous," said Hermione sheepishly.

"And as for if you've done enough prep work for classes," said Lily with a small smile, "not even I memorized my textbooks."

Hermione turned a little pink and said (quite bravely, Ginny thought), "I should warn you all now, I was a bit of a know-it-all, and sound a little obnoxious. Sorry in advance."

**She said all this very fast.**

**Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learnt all the set books off by heart either.**

"**I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

"**Harry Potter," said Harry.**

"**Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."**_

"Merlin, Harry's in a lot of books," said Remus.

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best-**

"It is," said James, Sirius and, surprisingly, Professor McGonagall.

**-I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad…Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

"**Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

"RON!" Alice said, quite annoyed with her unborn relative. "That is NOT a very nice thing for you to say! This time, you will know how to mind your manners!"

"Don't worry about it, Alice," said Hermione, shrugging. "At the beginning of the year, people said much worse, often to my face. At least he waited until I had left the room."

Nobody could really say anything to that, so Frank continued reading.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"Hey!" said all the Slytherins indignantly.

"**That's the house Vol – I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a little lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

"He's a nice kid," said Lily fondly.

"**So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?"**

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"There's lots of options," said James "You get to decide in fifth year, and then take the classes you need in sixth and seventh years, so you don't have to worry about it until then."

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet, **_**but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high security vault."**

There were gasps of astonishment throughout the room. Everyone there (Hermione especially) knew how tight security at Gringotts was.

"Wonder who it was," said Sirius, looking at the time travellers for a hint. What he and the others saw there was inexplicable.

Hermione had turned a really bright red and Ginny was laughing so hard it was silent, tears of mirth streaming down her face.

The others were so confused (and knew they would get no explanation for this strange behavior) that Frank continued to read.

**Harry stared.**

"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts**

Ginny laughed, if possible, even harder. The idea of her brother, Hermione, and her husband being Dark was hilarious.

**but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd.**

"That is odd," said James thoughtfully.

'**Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned.**

"That's the whole idea, of course," said Professor Dumbledore.

**He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er – I don't know any," Harry confessed.**

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded.**

In the Room of Requirement, James looked dumbfounded to.

"**Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered and Harry recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madame Malkin's robe shop.**

Sirius groaned. "Not him!" he pleaded with the book.

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"Of course he was," muttered Regulus and the Black brothers exchanged a look. If this kid was who they thought he was…

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.**

"They probably are bodyguards," said Sirius. He and Regulus exchanged another look. If this kid bothered Harry…

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

The Black brothers groaned. It was who they thought it was…

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."**

"HE DID _NOT _JUST INSULT MY FAMILY!" Alice yelled, making Moony wince. "HIS FATHER WILL PAY FOR THAT!"

"Yes, I know, Alice, love," said Frank, a little nervously. He'd been dating Alice long enough to know you _never _angered her. Also, her temper was legendary around the school. "But we really need to keep reading. I'm sure the Marauders would be happy to help you plan revenge."

"Would you really?" Alice asked, turning to the Marauders, who nodded fervently. "Great! If I weren't already in love with Frankie here, I'd kiss all of you."

Frank kept reading before Sirius could comment on that. He knew Sirius' reputation.

**He turned back to Harry.**

"**You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

"Good job, Harry!" Alice cheered. "You tell that jerk that just insulted your new friend!"

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either.**

"HE DIDN'T!" shouted Remus angrily.

Sirius and Regulus, who had been sitting on opposite sides of the Room, moved their chairs next to each other and began writing a list of everything Malfoy Jr. did that Malfoy Sr. would need to pay for. Why Malfoy Sr. needed to pay for it, neither time traveller knew, but they also weren't that fond of Malfoy Sr. so who were they to stop the Black brothers from extracting their punishments?

**You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."**

Alice growled, but Frank didn't give her a chance to shout as he kept reading.

**Both Harry and Ron stood up. Ron's face was as red his hair.**

"**Say that again," he said.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

"You better not be fighting, Harry James Potter!" Lily shouted.

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't be fighting them," hissed Lily.

James looked torn. On the one hand, he didn't really want his son fighting. On the other hand, he was proud that his son was defending both his friends and his parents' memories and they reason they died.

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

"Oooh," said Sirius leaning forward. "What happened?"

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle – Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats hiding among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

"**What **_**has **_**been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

"**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."**

"Wow," said Remus, shaking his head in disbelief. "Scabbers is sure like Peter with his ability and capacity to sleep."

"Yep," James said brightly. "The two must be related."

For reasons the rest of the Room couldn't fathom, the Marauders, Lily, Ginny, and Hermione found this intensely amusing.

"Er – " said Severus, "forgive me if I sound ignorant, but how is that funny?"

The Marauders suddenly froze, as if realising that they weren't alone. Remus looked at the time travellers. "You know?" he asked.

Ginny nodded, "Of course we know. Hermione and the boys found out in third year and I found out in between their fourth and fifth years."

"About everything?" said Sirius.

Hermione nodded. "We know about Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail." The Marauders exchanged glances. "You know, you might as well tell them, they'll find out in the third book anyway."

The three looked at each other and then nodded. "Fine," said Remus. "The first thing you need to know is that I'm a werewolf."

Most of the Room, by the looks of things, already knew this.

The professors knew because, well, they were the professors. Severus knew because of the 'prank' Sirius had played the year before. Frank and Lily knew because of their superior mental capacity. So, it was really only news to Regulus and Alice, who didn't care.

"So, when we found out," James continued, "we wanted to do everything we could to help him."

"We did some research," Sirius continued, "and found out that werewolves aren't dangerous to animals. As luck had it, it was only a few days later that Professor McGonagall gave her lesson on Animagi."

"So, we decided to become unregistered Animagi." James finished.

Sirius added quickly (seeing Professor McGonagall open her mouth and expecting a huge lecture on how illegal it was), "We thought at the time that we'd register after school, but now we think we'll wait until we win the war. Being an unregistered Animagi is a skill we fully intend to make use of."

Professor McGonagall said, "That's quite an advanced piece of magic. Did you succeed?"

James and Sirius nodded and James said, "Just after the start of the school year –"

"Good job," said Professor McGonagall, quite impressed. Maybe she'd turn a blind eye to _some _of the pranks that were going to befall the Slytherin house in the next few months.

James smirked. "You didn't let me finish, Professor. Just after the start of the school year, in _fifth_ year."

Professor McGonagall was quite speechless.

**And so he had.**

"**You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

"**I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

"**You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

Hermione buried her face in her hands. "Merlin, I was such an idiot back then!"

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his trainers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

Lily (and everybody else, Lily's expression was just the most) looked excited.

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"**C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much.**

"Nobody ever does," said Regulus.

**Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"I hope he doesn't have a cold on his first day of school," said Alice worriedly.

"Don't worry," said Hermione kindly. "He just couldn't find Trevor."

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"Bet Ron liked that," said Severus.

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then – FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake which was smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and neared to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"And that is the end of the chapter," said Frank, passing on the book to Alice.

"Oooh, a cliffy," she said as she took it.

"Hermione," Ginny said, "what about the other three people we discussed?"

"Well, if you go get that person we talked about during our research, I'll go get them," said Hermione.

Ginny thought for a moment.

*FLASHBACK*

_The two girls were in the Hogwarts library, taking a well-deserved break from research._

"_Who do you think we should include?" asked Ginny._

"_Well, the Marauders, except Peter, and Lily, of course, and Dumbledore," said Hermione thoughtfully. "But other than that I'm not sure."_

"_What about Neville's parents and McGonagall?" suggested Ginny. "Although, maybe not right away. We could start with a few people and see how that goes, and then if it works, add some more."_

"_Great idea," said Hermione. "I think we should start with Dumbledore, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Snape, and add Alice, Frank, Regulus Black and McGonagall a bit later."_

"_Yeah, that'll work. I wouldn't mind including my uncles, but they could wait until later in the first book. Amelia Bones is a good idea."_

"_How about Harry? He'd like to see his parents," said Hermione. "I'll get Amelia and your uncles if you get Harry."_

"_Not right away," said Ginny thoughtfully. "We need to get James and Lily used to the idea that they have a son and then died. When we get to chapter seven I'll consider it."_

"_Right," said Hermione._

*END FLASHBACK*

"Alright," said Ginny. "I'll get that person."

The others in the Room settled in for another half-hour or so wait.

_**There we go, it's finally done. Sorry it took forever, but real life needed some attention. Thanks to all you who favorited/followed/reviewed. I do read all of the comments, but I haven't been replying to them because I'm too lazy to figure out which ones I've replied to and which I haven't. This will stop next update. For now, thanks!**_


	9. Chapter 9

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

AN: Just a quick side note: for the purposes of this fic, Gideon and Fabien Prewitt are Aurors and have been out of school for about two years. They were in Gryffindor and got along well with the Marauders, Lily, Amelia, Alice, and Frank. They weren't on such good terms with the Slytherins, but that was mostly because most of the pranks they played made the Slytherins look bad. They joined the Order right out of school. Amelia Bones is for a year younger than the Marauders, Lily, Alice, Frank, and Severus, making her the same age as Regulus. She's in Hufflepuff and she fancies Remus a lot. Remus likes her a bit as well, but won't do anything because of his bunny rabbit. Perhaps a little romance between the two? Let me know what you think in the comments. Also (since you're leaving a comment anyway), should Hermione be seeing anyone right now? If so, who? Should she fall in love with Sirius, Regulus, Severus, or one of the Prewitt twins? Should she be cut up about losing someone in the Final Battle? Or should she be married? I can't decide, so I'm leaving it up to the readers.

**Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat**

The Prewitt twins were enjoying a bit of a lie-in after working late the night before. Gideon Prewitt was woken by the unceasing tapping of an owl on the kitchen window, and Fabien's grumbling as he went to go get it.

A moment later, Gideon heard his brother shout, "Gid, get up now! Albus needs us at Hogwarts for Order duty!" Gideon was out of bed on a Saturday the fastest he'd been in a long time.

"So, what did that letter say this was about?" Gideon asked his brother for the third time as they made their way up to the seventh floor, as they had been instructed.

"Just that Albus has a unique assignment that he needs our help with," said Fabien shrugging. "Told us we'd be meeting three other people on this corridor, and that secrecy was vital. Other than that, nothing."

"Hmmm," said Gideon.

They rounded a bend in the corridor and saw one other girl, a sixth year Hufflepuff, judging by her robes.

"Hello," she said kindly. "I'm Amelia Bones. I was told to come here to meet two girls, in addition to you two. _Rules are of course-"_

"_Made to be broken," __**(Quidditch through the Ages page 55)**_finished Fabien. He whispered to his brother, "the identity code."

"Do you know anything about why we're here?" Gideon asked Amelia.

"No," she said, "I got a note from Professor Dumbledore to meet you two and two others here and that secrecy was vital. The note itself was… strange. It asked me if I knew what my fate was, would I change it. If I knew how bad things were, would I change them? I think my answer is yes. I'm supposed to ask you if you were given the same opportunity, what your answer would be."

Gideon and Fabien thought for a moment. "I think," Gideon said slowly, "we would say yes, we would change things."

A door opened behind Amelia and two girls stepped out. "_Take out the Seeker-" _the red-head who looked a lot like the twins sister Molly said.

"_is the first rule in Brutus Scrimgeour's-"_Amelia continued.

"_The Beater's Bible," _Gideon completed. He recognised the quote from Quidditch Through the Ages. "So you two are the people we're supposed to meet?" he added.

The girl with brown hair nodded and beckoned them through the door.

Inside were three of the Marauders, Frank, Alice, Lily (curled in James' lap of all places), Minerva, Albus, and two Slytherins.

The brown-haired girl pointed at the two empty chairs and said, "Those are our seats. Sit wherever you like. The others will explain everything; we have one more person to recruit."

They then disappeared through a wardrobe in the corner.

"So, what's going on?" asked Fabien. He and Gideon were sitting on a sofa next to their cousin Alice and Severus Snape. Amelia was sitting by Remus.

"Well," said James seriously, "those two girls are from the future. A really crappy future where Lily and I were married, had a kid named Harry James Potter, and then were murdered by Voldemort."

Lily spoke next. "Harry was sent to my magic-hating sister, where he lived in a cupboard. He knew nothing about James or me, and wasn't told how we died. They said that we died in a Muggle car accident because James was drunk. He wasn't told anything about magic until he was eleven, which was also when he learned how James and I actually died."

"We've gone through the train ride and trip across the lake," said Minerva, "we're just at the part before the first years are transferred from Hagrid's care to mine. So far, Harry's become friends with Ron Weasley, one of your nephews," she gestured to Gideon and Fabien, who grinned, "met a Muggleborn know-it-all named Hermione Granger, met Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice's son, and spoken to Draco Malfoy, who insulted his parents. They are not friends."

"The girls that left through the cupboard are Hermione Granger, who has apologized in advance for being an obnoxious know-it-all, and Ginny Potter, nee Weasley, who is Ron's sister and Harry's wife," added Albus. "We also know that everyone in this Room is completely trustworthy and any hexing, cursing, charming, enchanting of anyone in here will result in an immediate Obliviate and expulsion from the Room."

Alice spoke now, "Also, if you're here then you did something that earned you the time travellers' respect." She took a deep breath before adding, "We also know that Gideon and Fabien are both dead by next summer."

The twins, while shocked, nodded (they could change this).

"So where did the time travellers go?" Amelia asked.

**JUMPING BACK TO SHORTLY AFTER THE POINT HERMIONE AND GINNY LEFT THROUGH THE CUPBOARD**

"Harry," Ginny called, walking into their bedroom at Potter Manner. To no surprise, the girls found Neville and Harry playing an intense game of Exploding Snap. After the war, Neville and Harry had become closer, to the point where Harry would talk to Neville about his feelings. Neville was doing his best to help Harry, but hadn't really made much progress. She held a whispered conversation with Hermione and then said, "Harry, Neville, we need your help now."

Something about the seriousness of his wife's tone made Harry look up. He hadn't heard that tone since the war. "What do you need, love?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "We need you two to come to Hogwarts with us, now."

Harry's and Neville's faces displayed their surprise. "Why?" asked Neville.

"We'll explain on the way," said Ginny.

Neville nodded and stood up, but Harry turned to the wall.

"Harry," Hermione said softly, "are you coming?"

"Not if this has anything to do with the war," said Harry stubbornly. "I've had enough of fighting."

Ginny looked at Hermione and Neville with sad eyes and gestured for them to leave, indicating that she would catch up with them. They nodded and left.

"Harry," Ginny said coming to sit beside him. "I know you're done fighting. Merlin knows we all are. I know you want nothing to do with the war. And this does have to do with the war. It's about preventing the war." Harry looked his confusion.

Ginny sighed. "Hermione and I discovered a spell that can create a place between times. We've invited a rather large group of people, including your parents, to read with us. We want you to come to."

Harry turned to face his wife, amazement on his face and Ginny was startled to see tears streaming down his face. "Do you really mean it?" he whispered.

"Yes."

Harry just burst into tears. Ginny rubbed his back soothingly; helping him let it all out. Eventually, Harry was finished and the two stood up. Ginny gently kissed Harry and said softly, "The others are waiting for us."

Harry and Neville followed Ginny and Hermione back to the Room of Requirement – or the place the Room of Requirement _used _to be. The fire had destroyed it, after all. It was only because of Hermione's brain (and magic) that they were able to use the Room as the place between times. They were lucky like that.

"So," said Ginny, "We're back! We actually brought two people instead of the one we were planning on. Frank, Alice, meet your son Neville Longbottom. Lily, James, meet Harry Potter." She ushered them through the cupboard. Hermione followed and sealed the cupboard behind them. The Stitch in Time had been activated once again. Time flowed for only the Room of Requirement.

Lily and James stared at Harry in shock. Harry blushed under their stares. Ginny gently pushed him towards his parents. Suddenly, the three were in a group hug and Lily was crying. Harry sat on the couch (former loveseat that his parents had been occupying), between his parents.

Neville hadn't waited to be shoved by Ginny. He had already sat between his parents and was talking to them softly, telling them about growing up with his grandmother.

"But where were we?" asked Alice, a frown on her face. "Why did you grow up with Frank's mother?"

Neville looked at Hermione and Ginny, who had sat back in their usual spots. "You didn't tell them?" he queried.

Hermione shook her head. "We were going to let them find out from the books. That meant they'd find out in the fourth book. If you want to tell them earlier, by all means go ahead."

Neville looked at the ceiling. "Only a few days after the attack on Godric's Hollow, our family came out of hiding. We should have waited longer. That was the day Bellatrix Lestrange, among others, used the Cruciatus Curse on my parents until they were both completely insane. They've been in St. Mungo's ever since."

There was silence. Alice cried and hugged her son. Frank wrapped his arms around both of them. Everyone was in shock.

Ginny cleared her throat. "Right," she said, "who's turn was it to read?"

"Mine," Alice said, wiping her eyes. She picked up the book and opened it to the beginning of chapter seven.

**Chapter Seven: The Sorting Hat**

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.**

"Minnie!" said the Marauders, grinning. Minerva grimaced – oh how she hated that name!

**She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"Quite right, Harry," said Remus, nodding.

"But," said Sirius, grinning again, "it's fun to anyway."

"**The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

"**Thank you, Hagrid, I will take them from here."**

**She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common-room.**

"**The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

"**The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

"Same speech we got," noted Lily.

"And us," said Amelia.

"Me too," said Ginny.

Minerva shrugged, "I use the same speech every year."

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"Not gonna work!" James and Harry sang in unison. They looked at each other, startled, then burst out laughing.

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

"**How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

"**Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

The time travellers' faces went sad for a moment as the book-Ron mentioned Fred.

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet – what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all of the spells she'd learnt and which ones she'd need.**

Hermione groaned and buried her face in her hands. Gideon and Fabien looked like they wanted to say something to her, but out of respect for her (and after a glare from Neville, Ginny, and Harry), they decided not to.

**Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys –**

Lily added to her list.

**-saying that he'd somehow managed to turn his teacher's wig blue.**

The Marauders and Prewitt Twins started laughing uncontrollably.

"Okay," said James, managing to bring his laughter back under control, "that's a story we _have _to hear."

"Well," said Harry, grinning at the memory, "I was sitting in class and Dudley was bugging me. I sat second row from the back, and Dudley sat directly behind me. I had to turn around and tell him to stop. The teacher was prowling between the desks, helping students, and when he got to me, I hadn't gotten very much done because I had to tell Dudley off. He asked why I had nothing done and I said, quite stupidly as I'd get punished for it later, that Dudley was distracting me. This was around the tenth time the teacher had asked me this question, with the same answer. Keep in mind it was still early in the year – end of September at the latest – and he hadn't yet learned not to seat me anywhere near Dudley. Anyway, he said something along the lines of, 'Dudley wouldn't distract a fellow student' all pompous, and decided that I must be the one goofing off. I had just gotten detention, and was quite annoyed by that fact that I had another detention because of something Dudley had done. Then… his wig was blue." The others in the Room also laughed. Harry's grin grew as Lily scribbled on her list. It was rather nice to have parents to stand up for you. "Truth be told," Harry added, "I didn't even know he had a wig. He heard the class laughing at him and turned to ask what they were laughing at and caught sight of his reflection in the window. He screamed and tore off his wig. Then he yelled 'What did you do to it?' really loudly. It was hilarious."

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Pessimistic much?" asked Frank dryly.

"Oh, shut up," said Harry defensively. "You would be to if you lived with the Dursleys for ten years."

**Then something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air – several people behind him screamed.**

"**What the –"**

**He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"**

"That's the Fat Friar," said Amelia happily. She wondered what she was doing at the time this was taking place, and why she had been selected to join the group.

"**My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.**

**Nobody answered.**

"**New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them.**

"That sounds like him," agreed Minerva. She, personally, couldn't stand the Fat Friar or Peeves.

"**About to be Sorted, I suppose?"**

**A few people nodded numbly.**

"**Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"**Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

"**Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first year students up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring up at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like they sky outside, I read about it in **_**Hogwarts, a History.**_**"**

Hermione groaned at her younger self.

"You know," said Ginny casually, watching Remus, Lily, and Frank for their reactions to this, "they had to write a new edition to _Hogwarts, a History_ and _A History of Magic. _Neville, Harry, and Hermione are in both."

Lily gasped; eyes alight with curiosity as to what the new editions could contain. Remus and Frank also looked excited.

"What about you?" asked Gideon. "Aren't you in it?"

Harry nodded, "She is, she just doesn't want to admit it. She was prominent with the resistance at Hogwarts during the last year and she married me. Apparently, both of those warrants being in a book."

"Fred and George are in it to," said Hermione.

"So are the Marauders," said Neville, "although, they're just mentioned in passing."

"You have to leave us copies of these books!" Remus begged. "If I'm in it, even if I'm just mentioned in passing, it _has _to be good!"

"We'll give you copies before we leave, but we don't want you finding out stuff the books haven't talked about yet, so wait until we're done reading," said Ginny.

Alice re-opened the book.

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open to the heavens.**

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing – noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:**

"Sing, Alice!" cried the pranksters.

"No," said Alice firmly.

'_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

_**But don't judge on what you see,**_

_**I'll eat myself if you can find,**_

_**A smarter hat than me.**_

_**You can keep your bowlers black,**_

_**Your top hats sleek and tall,**_

_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**_

_**And I can cap them all.**_

_**There's nothing hidden in your head**_

_**The Sorting Hat can't see,**_

_**So try me on and I will tell you**_

_**Where you ought to be.**_

_**You might belong in Gryffindor,**_

_**Where dwell the brave at heart,**_

"GO GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Gryffindors.

_**Their daring, nerve and chivalry**_

_**Set Gryffindors apart;**_

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**_

_**Where they are just and loyal,**_

"GO HUFLEPUFF!" shouted Alice and Amelia.

_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**_

_**And unafraid of toil;**_

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**_

_**If you've a ready mind,**_

_**Where those of wit and learning,**_

_**Will always find their kind;**_

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted Frank.

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin**_

_**You'll make your real friends,**_

_**Those cunning folk use any means**_

_**To achieve their ends.**_

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**_

_**And don't get in a flat!**_

_**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**_

_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!**_

"That was a pretty good song," said Minerva, "Nothing like we get now,"

"You have to keep in mind that we'd had ten years of peace, whereas you're in the middle of a war," said Harry.

"Are you going to give us any hints about what houses you guys are in?" asked Fabian.

"Nope," said Ginny smugly. "And you won't find out mine until the next book, too."

"Aww, come on, please?" said Sirius.

"Fine, I'm in Gryffindor, but you'll have to be patient with the answers for the others."

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

"**So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

The four from the future burst out laughing at this. The others looked quite confused.

Alice decided the best course of action was to ignore the time travellers and keep reading. So that's what she did.

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

"It would also be the one for most people," said Frank.

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause – **

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.**

Alice and Amelia cheered for Hannah as well.

Neville muttered to his dad, "She's my fiancée."

Frank smiled at him and whispered, "Congratulations," resolving to listen closely each time Hannah was mentioned.

**Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

"**Bones, Susan!"**

Amelia turned to Hermione. "Who is she?"

"Your niece, but you're her legal guardian because the rest of her family died at the end of the summer," she replied.

Amelia nodded, almost crying, and focused on the sound of Alice's voice telling of her niece's Sorting.

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

Amelia and Alice cheered again.

"**Boot, Terry!"**

"**RAVENCLAW!"**

Frank cheered this time.

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

"**Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, **

More cheering from Frank.

**But "Brown, Lavender," became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers.**

The Marauders, Lily, Gideon, and Fabian cheered for Lavender.

**Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

"**Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.**

Regulus and Severus clapped politely for their future house-mate.

**Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.**

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teems during sports lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

Lily scowled and scribbled on her list.

"**Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"**

More cheers from Alice and Amelia.

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus", the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

Cheers from the resident Gryffindors. (Minus the time travellers. They were trying to keep their houses secret so the people form the 70's would be surprised.)

"**Granger, Hermione!"**

"Hold it!" said Sirius. "We should bet on which house Hermione gets. I think it's Ravenclaw."

"I'm guessing Gryffindor," said Lily.

"I agree with Sirius," said Alice.

Frank, James, Gideon, Fabien, and Regulus all agreed with Sirius as well, but Remus, Severus, and Amelia agreed with Lily. Both professors chose to abstain from the betting.

"Two Galleons good?" asked James and the teens nodded.

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

Hermione buried her face in her hands with a groan.

"**GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.**

So did all those who had lost the bet.

**A horrible though struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?"**

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville.**

"Bets?" Alice said. "I say Hufflepuff."

"Gryffindor for sure," said Frank.

Remus, Lily, Amelia, and James all agreed with Frank, while the others (except the time travellers and teachers) agreed with Alice.

**When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR", Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed "SLYTHERIN!"**

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now.**

"**Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Parkinson"…, then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" …, then "Perks, Sally-Anne"…, and then, at last – **

"**Potter, Harry!"**

"Bets?" asked Hermione. When people looked at her in confusion, she said, "I know you're going to, so you might as well get it over with."

"I say Gryffindor," said Lily and everyone agreed with her.

"So, I guess there's no bet," said Harry, laughing. What were they going to do when the hat started talking about Slytherin?

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

"_**Potter**_** did she say?"**

"_**The **_**Harry Potter?"**

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.**

"That would be annoying," said Sirius.

"Trust me, it still is," said Harry while making a face. Ginny smiled softly. This trip was good for him. He was starting to open up again.

**Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.**

"**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"**

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."**

"**Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

The four time travellers were laughing at the expressions on people's faces. As the hat had been describing Harry, they had been curious. When the hat started talking about Slytherin, they had gone pale (especially Sirius' and James'). When the hat shouted out Gryffindor, they were relieved. All of the Gryffindors (other than Ron) were cheering for him.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

Everyone winced. That had happened to all of them at some point.

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.**

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw**

Cheers from Frank.

**and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

"**Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise" was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realised how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

"They always do," said James mournfully.

**Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"Nothing does," he said softly, but people still heard him.

"**Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!**

"**Thank you!"**

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

"**Is he – a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.**

"**Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world. But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"**

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.**

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry,**

"Yet," muttered Ginny, Hermione, and Neville. Harry blushed and the others looked curious.

**but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the humbugs and began to eat.**

Lily was writing on her list.

**It was all delicious.**

"**That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.**

"**Can't you -?"**

"**I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

"**I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"**I would **_**prefer**_** you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

"_**Nearly **_**Headless? How can you be **_**nearly **_**headless?"**

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

"Don't be fooled," said Minerva dryly. "He loves it."

"**Like **_**this**_**,'" he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it were on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."**

"I wonder how he got to be so bloody," Remus mused.

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. "We know," said Harry cheekily.

"We do?" asked Neville, looking startled.

"Well, Ginny and Neville don't. But Harry and I do," said Hermione.

"Will you tell us?" said Lily.

"It's in the books," said Harry.

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"**How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

"**I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding…**

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.**

"**I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."**

"That was very dangerous to do," said Severus, his face in a bit of a frown.

Neville nodded. "We found out later that his mum had actually told his dad a few dates before he proposed. He was just trying to get a few laughs out of us."

**The others laughed.**

"**What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

"**Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all Muggle for ages. Mu Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for tea and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

Frank looked at Alice. "Let's keep Uncle Algie away from Neville, when he's born."

Alice nodded fervent agreement.

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons (I **_**do **_**hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult –"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing –").**

"Typical Hermione," said Ginny, shaking her head. "The start of term banquet hasn't even ended and you're already talking about lessons."

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.**

"It's you!" said Sirius, pointing at Severus.

Severus scowled.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.**

Harry rubbed his scar absent-mindedly.

"**Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

"**What is it?" asked Percy.**

"**N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had got from the teacher's look – a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

Lily glared at the three Marauders. "If Snape treats my son horribly because of your pranking, I am going to _personally _going to make _absolutely certain _that you won't be producing _any _children!"

"Um, Mum," said Harry hesitantly. "That's a great threat and all, but if you do that, I won't exist, and I kind of like existing."

"Fine," Lily said. "I will personally make certain that you can't have children _after _Harry's born."

"**Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

"**Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

**Harry watched Snape for a while but Snape didn't look at him again.**

**At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.**

"**Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you.**

"**First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"He always twinkles at us, too!" said James excitedly.

Minerva harrumphed angrily. "Not that it ever stops you!" she said loudly, causing people to jump as they had forgotten she was in the Room.

"**I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

"**Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madame Hooch.**

"So far it's just been the normal stuff," observed Gideon.

"**And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"Okay," said Fabian slowly. "That's not so normal."

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

"**He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.**

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that.**

"We know that better than most," said Harry, smirking. Inwardly, Ginny was beaming. Harry hadn't smirked or properly smiled since the battle.

**I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."**

Remus snorted. "No offence Ginny, but your brother's an idiot."

"I know," said Ginny brightly.

"Prefects are not on equal status with the teachers, therefore they have no right to know something like this," said Lily as she frowned. "If any students would be told, it would be the Head Boy and Girl, but if it doesn't have anything to do with how the school is run, then even they might not be told."

"**And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.**

**Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he were trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.**

"**Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed:**

"Please sing this time, Alice!" begged Sirius.

"Not on your life," said Alice firmly.

_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,**_

_**Teach us something please,**_

_**Whether we be old and bald**_

_**Or young with scabby knees,**_

_**Our heads could do with filling**_

_**With some interesting stuff,**_

_**For now they're bare and full of air,**_

_**Dead flies and bits of fluff,**_

_**So teach us things worth knowing,**_

_**Bring back what we've forgot,**_

_**Just do your best, we'll do the rest,**_

_**And learn until our brains all rot."**_

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped the loudest.**

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime, Off you trot!"**

**The Gryffindor first years followed Percy up through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him.**

"Peeves," said all the students at once.

"**Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A Poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves – show yourself!"**

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

"**Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

**There was a pop and a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

"**Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

"**Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll here about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.**

"**You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set on again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

"You do realise that we know where your common room entrance is, right?" asked Regulus with a very Slytherin smirk.

"We know where yours is, so anything you do to us, we can do back," retorted Sirius.

"**Password?" she said.**

"**Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it – Neville needed a leg up – and found themselves in the Gryffindor common-room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.**

"**Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get **_**off, **_**Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."**

The people from the '70s laughed, though Frank, Lily, Remus, Severus, and Regulus noticed the time travelers didn't join in. They scowled instead.

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.**

**Perhaps harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer into Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully – and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it – then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and harry woke, sweating and shaking.**

Harry frowned, "I don't remember ever having a dream like that."

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke the next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"Ah, that explains it."

"That's the end of the chapter," said Alice, passing the book to her cousin Gideon.

A/N: Here you go, I finally updated! Thanks to all who favorited/followed/reviewed! And here are my replies to the reviews:

**Weepinganfels91011: **Thanks for the encouragement!

**Ower: **Thanks for pointing out the inconsistencies. I'm going to try and make relations strained between Snape and the Marauders, Lily and Snape, and Snape and Regulus and the other houses, simply because their Slytherins and Slytherins typically don't get along with the other houses. I've also tried to make Harry a bit less cheerful than I would've liked to, but he needs to open up gradually for the sake of the story. Let me know how I did, please?

**Awesomeme: **I have thought about skipping the book text (mostly because it takes so long to write!) but I think that, for now, I'm going to keep putting all of it in there, simply because it can be difficult to follow if I were to say, _Alice read about how the sorting hat tried to put Harry into Slytherin and the Marauders went into shock, _and then skip to, _Harry had a weird nightmare, but present-day Harry doesn't remember it at all._ I don't mind if the reader decides to skip parts of the text, but I think that I'm going to keep writing it the way I have been.

**Hpandthemaraudersrock: **I was already planning on including Neville, I really felt he deserved the chance to meet his parents, but I think that for now I'm going to keep Luna in the future, mostly because I already have a ton of characters there. I might bring her when the book-people meet her.

**Smithback: **Thanks!

**Guest: **Thanks!

**Luka'sBlade: **Thanks, and I will definitely keep writing!

**god of all: **Thanks! I update when I can!

**WhisperOfTheHeart925: **Thanks!

**Cyclops1340: **Thanks!

**Lwalker98: **Here's the next update!

To those of you waiting for me to update Kathleen's Crisis: I haven't forgotten about it! I almost have the second chapter done, it's just a matter of getting my ideas on paper, so to speak. I promise I will have it by Friday. If I don't, you can hunt me down and behead me with a blunt ax. That chapters mostly just backstory for Kathleen, as well as some Kathleen/Charlie fluff.


	10. Chapter 10

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

A/N: Okay, so the general consensus seems to be that Remus and Nymphadora Tonks should be together, so I think I'll do that, and keep Ron and Hermione canon. I haven't decided yet if I want to have them married, engaged, or just dating, but I'll figure it out based on what happens with the 1977 readers. Question for you: since I'm keeping Remus/Nymphadora, should Amelia Bones get together with someone else? Who? Leave me a comment…

**Chapter Eight: The Potions Master**

Gideon opened the book and said in mock horror, "Who in their right mind gave the potions master their own chapter?" Everyone laughed, even Severus.

**Chapter Eight: The Potions Master**

"**There, look."**

"**Where?"**

"**Nest to the tall kid with the red hair."**

'**Wearing the glasses?"**

"**Did you see his face?"**

"**Did you see his scar?"**

**Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People queuing outside the classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.**

"That would be annoying," said James.

"It was definitely that," said Harry, laughing. "It's worse now, though. It's been _really_ bad since they put me on the Chocolate Frog Cards."

"You have a Chocolate Frog Card?" asked Sirius. "Can you show us?"

"After we finish the books. I don't want to give things away."

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts**

"How do you know that?" asked Lily, impressed.

Harry shrugged, "I read it in _Hogwarts, A History _before school started."

Hermione gasped, "You mean you actually read that? Why didn't you tell me? All those times I nagged you were unnecessary?"

**Wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump.**

"I never remember," said Neville and Alice wistfully. They looked at each other, startled, as the rest of the Room laughed at them.

**Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot.**

"It does," James grinned.

**The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk.**

**The ghosts didn't help either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop waste-paper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose and screech "GOT YOUR CONK!"**

The Marauders and twins laughed while everybody else scowled at them. It was common knowledge that they were responsible for teaching Peeves that.

**Even worse than Peeves, it that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. **

Everyone scowled at the mention of the caretaker. "How is he still around? He must be, like, five billion years old by this point," said Fabian, only somewhat jokingly.

**Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning.**

"Wow," said James, impressed. "It took the Marauders at least a week. How did you manage it?"

"It'll probably say in the next line or two, so just be patient," said Lily, mock scowling at her new boyfriend.

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door which unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. **

"Yikes," said Sirius, shaking his head, "that is bad luck."

Harry nodded, although his parents heard him mutter, "You haven't seen _anything _yet." This didn't reassure them and they glanced at each other with worried eyes.

**He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.**

The students all breathed a sigh of relief and Albus and Minerva glanced at each other with concern. Surely the book was exaggerating how bad Argus was?

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamplike eyes just like Filch's.**

"How is that cat still alive?" asked Alice in surprise laced with malice. That cat held a special place in her heart for a time last year that she had managed to trip over the cat and fell down four flights of stairs. She ended up with a broken arm and leg, as well as a fractured pelvis. She spent a week in the hospital wing, mostly because of Madame Pomfrey's need to keep students there longer than necessary.

**She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one tow out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.**

A chorus of "including me's" came from all the students and Minerva and Albus shared a glance again. It couldn't be this bad, it just couldn't.

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the lessons themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.**

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.**

"Is Professor Sprout new?" asked Alice curiously.

Most of the time travellers shrugged, but Neville said, "yes, she started about eight years before we did."

**Easily the most boring lesson was History of Magic, which was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep by the staff room fire and got up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.**

"Obviously nothing's changed there," observed Remus.

Minerva and Albus shared a glance again. Now that they were seeing the school through the eyes of the students, they were realising things weren't as great as they seemed to be.

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first lesson he took the register, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.**

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking to the moment they had sat down in her first class. **

"**Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

"Well, that's different," said James.

"I bet she had enough with multiple warnings from the Marauders and Pruwitt twins," Lily said glaring at the offenders, who shrank back.

"I'm certain that's it," said Minerva, startling everybody.

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realised they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.**

"So," said James, disappointed, "you didn't get my Transfiguration talent."

Harry shook his head.

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.**

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.**

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.**

"Nice job," said Sirius with a grin. "That took us at least two weeks."

"**What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.**

"**Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them – we'll be able to see if it's true."**

"**Wish McGonagall favored us," said Harry.**

Minerva snorted, "Never going to happen."

Harry grinned and said, "I know!"

**Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.**

**Just then, the post arrived. Harry had got used to this by now, but it had given him quite a shook on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners and dropping letters and packages on to their laps.**

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note on to Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once.**

_**Dear Harry, **_**it said, in a very untidy scrawl,**

_**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.**_

_**Hagrid**_

"That's sweet of Hagrid," said Lily, mentally deciding to buy Hagrid something really nice for Christmas.

**Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled **_**'Yes, please, see you later' **_**on the back of the note and sent Hedwig off again.**

**It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.**

**At the start of term banquet, Harry had got the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry – he **_**hated **_**him.**

"Oh, Sev," said Lily while shaking her head. "What did you do?"

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.**

"**Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new – **_**celebrity.**_**"**

"And thus begins my torture," said Harry sadly. He liked the 70's version of Snape much better than the 90's version.

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.**

"**You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … KI can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"That was a really good speech," said Lily, "until the dunderheads part, anyway."

"**Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"Sev!" said Lily crossly. "That's not a first-year potion!"

"She's right," said Remus, frowning. "We didn't learn that until this year."

_**Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? **_**Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.**

"**I don't know, sir," said Harry.**

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer.**

"**Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything."**

**He ignored Hermione's hand.**

"**Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"**

"Well, that's at least part of the first-year curriculum, but you don't learn it until after Christmas," said Lily, frowning at Severus, who was trying to sink into his chair and out of sight.

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.**

"As if _they _would know the answers," said Regulus, obviously disgusted with the Slytherin trio's juvenile behavior.

"**I don't know, sir."**

"**Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"**

**Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He **_**had **_**looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in **_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?**_

"Yes," said Harry, Hermione, and Ginny in unison.

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.**

"**What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"**

"That's a dirty trick, Sev, you know there isn't a difference and that they won't learn that until third year!" Lily glared some more. She desperately wanted to hex him, but felt that he couldn't since this hadn't happened yet. And never would, if she had her way.

**At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling.**

A few people laughed as Hermione sank into her chair.

"**I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"**

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus' eye and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.**

"**Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For you information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"**

"Because you never told them to, you git," said Severus angrily.

**There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for you cheek, Potter."**

"Well, at least you have a good reason for taking the point," said James half-heartedly.

"This time," Harry muttered.

**Things didn't improve for Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class were standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.**

"**Idiot boy!" snarled Snape,**

Alice turned to Severus, who had sunk even further into the chair, "Don't you call Neville an idiot," she said sharply, her whole demeanor radiating power and anger that made those closest to her back away. In that instant, the time travellers remembered that Frank and Alice had been two of Mad-Eye Moody's favorites. They had been known as the best, and now they knew why.

After Frank had calmed Alice down, she smiled weakly at Severus and said, "Sorry about that, I forgot you weren't him for a minute."

**Clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"**

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.**

"**Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.**

"**You – Potter – why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."**

This was too much for Lily. She stood up, stomped across the Room to a door that appeared out of thin air. She stormed through, slamming the door behind her. Through the door, they could hear the sounds of her spells connecting with something. They didn't know what, nor did they want to know.

When she came back five minutes later, she had significantly calmed down and Gideon was able to continue reading.

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.**

"**Don't push it," he muttered. "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."**

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week – **_**why **_**did Snape hate him so much?**

"Don't worry about the points," said James consolingly. "We lost ten times that many in the first day."

"I know," said Harry with a grin, "It wasn't so much that I'd lost points as the manner that I lost them."

"As for the reason that Snape hates you so much," said Lily, glaring at her boyfriend, "I'd blame your father for that."

"**Cheer up," said Ron. "Snape's always taking points off of Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"**

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small woken house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A cross bow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.**

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "**_**Back, **_**Fang – **_**back."**_

**Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.**

"**Hang on," he said. "**_**Back, **_**Fang."**

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.**

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.**

"**Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.**

"**This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes on to a plate.**

"**Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."**

"And the other half was spent chasing the Marauders away," said Sirius, laughing.

**The rock cakes almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.**

"He does the same thing to me!" said James and Lily in unison. They looked at each other in shock while the rest of the Room laughed at them.

**Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch 'that old git.'**

"**An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like to introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her – Filch puts her up to it."**

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.**

"**But he seemed to really **_**hate **_**me."**

"**Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"**

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that.**

"Of course he wouldn't, he knows full well what went on during our time here," said Remus in exasperation.

"**How's yer brother, Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot – great with animals."**

"Oh, Hagrid," said Alice, shaking her head fondly.

**Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the **_**Daily Prophet.**_

_**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**_

_**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.**_

_**Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.**_

"_**But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts' spokesgoblin this afternoon.**_

Lily gasped. "The break-in happened on Harry's birthday! The vault he and Hagrid were visiting, 713, was emptied by them!"

"You don't think," said James slowly, "that they were after whatever was in that package?"

"That's exactly what I think, James!" said Lily.

**Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.**

"**Hagrid!" said Harry. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"**

**There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. **_**The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. **_**Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?**

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Gideon as he handed it to his brother.

"So, that was an interesting chapter," said Amelia, eyes glinting with excitement. "Does anyone else think that the package is the Philosopher's Stone? I mean, the book's named after it, so it _does _make sense."

"You thought that too?" said Sirius happily.

"Maybe our resident time travellers would be willing to tell us?" asked Remus.

Ginny and Neville shrugged. "Neither of us knows," said Neville.

"And we're," said Hermione, gesturing to herself and Harry, "not telling."

"That's not fair," said Regulus. "Just a little hint?"

"Nope," said Harry with a grin.

"Anyway," said Fabian, "the next chapter is called **The Midnight Duel. **Sounds exciting…"

A/N: There we go, an update at last!

Sorry about the pause between updates, I've got exams coming up, so all of my teachers are cramming to get review done. I'll try to update next weekend, but don't hold your breath.

Thanks to all who've favorited/followed/reviewed.

**Deant33: **Thanks for the advice, and I think I will include Hannah and Ron eventually. Tonks I'm not going to because at this point in the nineties she's dead and in the seventies she's still really young, like not even in Hogwarts yet. I'll think about Marlene, and I do think it's a good idea, but I don't think she'll come just yet. By the fifth book definitely.

**F.A.L.T.U.: **Thanks, and I will be including Ron, but not yet. I'm not going to include him until after the troll, simply because the 1977 readers like Hermione and Ron was a bit of a jerk to her.

**Clemence (guest): **Thanks for reading this, and for your opinion, but most of my readers think that Hermione and Ron should be together. I won't be including him for a while, though.

**MEE (guest): **I will be having Ron and Hermione, but Ron won't show up for a bit.

**Weepingangels91011: **I can't wait for that either. I have some really great ideas (or at least, _I _think their great) for that. They'll be in for a surprise when they find out about Quirrell.

**Ower: **Thanks, again for the advice, anything else you can think of will be greatly appreciated. As I said before, Hermione will be with Ron.

**Lazuag: **In response to your last review, which I'm sorry I haven't answered yet, I honestly totally forgot about Peter, and will have more questions about his whereabouts in the next chapter. I will also have something about Severus, probably when everyone thinks that he's after the Stone. And I will be having Ron and Hermione together.

Thanks also to:

**Crystal (guest), god of all, Twelve 13, cyclops1340, **and ** . .**

for reviewing.

Happy reading!


	11. Chapter 11

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

A/N: So, the general consensus is Remus/Tonks and Hermione/Ron. I've gotten comments from readers pushing for a Sirius/Marlene McKinnon romance, and one of the comments made me think of possibly putting Amelia and Peter together (he'll be joining us next chapter). If you want your opinion known, leave me a comment. Also, if we go with Sirius/Marlene, when should I bring her in? (Keeping in mind that it can't be anytime in the next chapter, because I've mostly written it and have no desire to re-write it to include Marlene. Any time after that is fair game.) Are there any other pairings for Regulus, Severus, Fabian, or Gideon you would like to see? Let me know, I'll try and work it in.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter Nine: The Midnight Duel**

"Harry James Potter, you are _not _to be dueling! Especially not after curfew!" Lily said in half anger, half exasperation to her future son.

"Don't worry, Mum, I don't duel anyone…this time," said Harry, laughing.

"Harry, I agree with your mother. You can't duel anyone, you haven't learned how yet!" said James in mock seriousness.

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. Still, first year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much.**

"I've never understood why you insist on putting the Gryffindors and Slytherins together for Potions, sir," said Severus to the Headmaster. "Potions is a delicate art that needs constant attention. If Gryffindors and Slytherins are together for that, the petty house rivalry basically ensures that all the potions will be messed up because of people tossing ingredients into them, or other such reasons."

"I have been saying that for years, Albus," declared Minerva. "I understand that you want the houses to co-exist, but Potions class is not the way to go with that. Put them together in Transfiguration or Charms, but not Potions or Defense."

Albus nodded. He would think about it.

**Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common-room which made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday – and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.**

All those from the future started to smirk, knowing what happened in this chapter.

"**Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."**

"You won't, Harry," said James confidently. Then he looked worried. "At least, if you inherited my skill you won't. If you got either you Grandmother's or your mother's, well, then you're in trouble." Lily whacked the back of James' head for that comment.

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.**

"**You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."**

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams – **

The people from the future snickered at that.

**-and told long, boastful stories which always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though; the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang-glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about football. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham football team, trying to make the players move.**

Ginny giggled, "Typical Ron."

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry thought she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.**

Harry turned red and said, "Sorry, mate."

Neville shrugged, "Why? It was the truth, at least at that point in time it was."

**Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart from a book – not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd got out of a library book called **_**Quidditch Through the Ages. **_

"That's a good book," said Sirius. "You have good choice in reading material."

"Thanks?"

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the post.**

**Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.**

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble. Which seemed to be full of white smoke.**

"**It's a Remembrall," he explained. "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do.**

"But it doesn't help you remember _what_ you forgot to do," Neville muttered now.

**Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh…" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "…you've forgotten something…"**

**Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.**

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.**

"When you've been teaching for long enough, you learn the signs," Minerva explained, startling everyone except those next to her.

"**What's going on?"**

"**Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.**

"**Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.**

"Perfect Quidditch conditions, then," observed Regulus, and the other Quidditch fans nodded.

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.**

"It's true," said Sirius with a frown. "The school really needs new brooms."

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.**

"**Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.**

"**Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madame Hooch at the front, "and say 'UP!'"**

"**UP!" everyone shouted.**

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did.**

James grinned. "You'll be a natural, son!" he said proudly.

Harry grinned from his dad's praise.

**Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.**

"I did," said Neville with a grin.

**Madame Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

"**Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madame Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three – two –"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.**

"**Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and – **

**WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass in a heap.**

Frank paled and Alice turned white and immediately began checking Neville for injuries. Neville gave her a small smile. "I'm alright, Mum," he said softly. "It was only a broken wrist several years ago. I'm fine now."

Alice nodded, looking sheepish, but still relieved. "Right," she said a little breathily, "I knew that." Frank also looked relieved.

Albus and Minerva looked at each other and nodded. It was time to replace those brooms.

**His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the forbidden forest and out of sight.**

**Madame Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.**

"**Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy – it's alright, up you get."**

**She turned to the rest of them.**

"**None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."**

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madame Hooch, who had her arm around him.**

"You know," said Neville thoughtfully, "looking back the pain isn't as bad as it seemed. Sure it was bad then, but that was only because I didn't have anything to compare it to. Now that I've felt the Cruciatus Curse, I know that was nothing."

Every face in the Room turned white as Harry nodded. "I know what you mean," he said. "I mean, being pushed around by Dudley is _nothing _compared to Voldemort's Cruciatus."

There was silence for a while, until Amelia managed to choke out, "How are you able to talk so casually about being under an Unforgivable?"

The time travellers glanced at each other. "Because," Ginny answered, "that was our life, during the war. If you got caught, it was the Unforgivables. If you were lucky, it was the Cruciatus or Imperious Curses. If you were unlucky, well, there aren't any left to say what happens if you're unlucky."

"We learned all sorts of skills during the war," Hermione added, "one of which was to dodge anything green. Those were usually Killing Curses."

There was silence until Fabian decided to start reading again.

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.**

"**Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

**The other Slytherins joined in.**

"**Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**

"**Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought **_**you'd **_**like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."**

"**Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."**

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.**

"**Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.**

**Malfoy smiled nastily.**

"**I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?"**

"**Give it **_**here!" **_**Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt on to his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he **_**could **_**fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"**

**Harry grabbed his broom.**

"_**No!" **_**shouted Hermione Granger. "Madame Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble."**

Hermione buried her face in her hands. "I was such a little prick!" she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

**Harry ignored her. Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared, air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him – and in a rush of fierce joy he realised he'd found something he could do without being taught – this was easy, this was **_**wonderful.**_

"It really is," said James, thinking of his own broom.

**He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. Malfoy looked stunned.**

"He probably didn't expect you to be so good," said Remus with a grin.

"**Give it here," Harry called, "of I'll knock you off that broom!"**

"**Oh yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.**

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands and it shot towards Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about turn and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.**

"**No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.**

**The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.**

"**Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.**

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down – next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball – wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching – he stretched out his hand – a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently on to the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.**

"Oh, wow," said Neville in awe, "I wish I could have seen it."

Almost no one heard him over Harry's wife's voice. "HARRY JAMES POTTER, DON'T YOU **DARE **_EVER _DO _ANYTHING _LIKE THAT AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?" she thundered.

While the twins flinched, probably reminded of their sister, as did the others in the Room, Harry held steady. "I hear you, love. It would be impossible not to. Besides, why are you complaining? We both know that's not the most dangerous broom related thing, or thing in general, to happen to me."

Ginny glared at Harry a moment longer. Harry continued to not flinch. Eventually, Ginny sighed and said, "I know everything you say is right, but I can't help but want to yell at you more."

Everyone relaxed and the time travelers laughed. Fabian continued reading once the noise died down.

"**HARRY POTTER!"**

**His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running towards them, He got to his feet, trembling.**

"Oooh," said Sirius with a frown, "tough luck, pup."

"_**Never **_**– in all my time at Hogwarts –"**

"Never, Minnie?" said James with a smile. "I seem to recall an incident in last year's House Cup where Julie Stevens pulled a dive very similar to that one so she could catch the Snitch."

Minerva turned red and Fabian decided it was best to continue reading.

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shook, and her eyes flashed furiously, "-how **_**dare **_**you – might have broken your neck –"**

"**It wasn't his fault, Professor –"**

"**Be quiet, Miss Patil –"**

"**But Malfoy –"**

"**That's **_**enough, **_**Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."**

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode towards the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.**

"Nah," said Gideon, "worst that'll happen is some docked points and a detention or two."

**He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on their doorstep?**

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards while he stumped around the grounds carrying Hagrid's bag.**

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.**

"**Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"**

**Wood? Thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?**

"Harry, I must ask, why your first thought was a cane and not a person," said Ginny calmly. Any who knew her were immediately worried by the tone.

"The Dursleys had no problem hitting me. How am I supposed to know that the professor wouldn't be like them?" said Harry quickly.

Ginny glared at him. "We'll talk about this later," she promised.

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.**

"**Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.**

"**In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom which was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.**

"**Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.**

"**Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker."**

Silence reigned in the Room of Requirement. Then Sirius yelled out, "They made you Seeker in your first year! That _never _happens!"

James couldn't speak, he was so proud. He gaped at Harry, but Harry could see the pride shining in his father's eyes.

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

"**Are you serious, Professor?"**

"Nope, that's me," said, well, Sirius. Everyone else groaned.

"**Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply.**

"NO! You're not serious, I'm Sirius," said Sirius loudly. Everyone groaned again.

"**The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?" **

**Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs.**

"**He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood.**

"Alright, so Julie Stevens only pulled a thirty-foot dive," said James.

"**Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."**

"Charlie was the Seeker before me," Harry explained. "He could have played professionally, if he hadn't gone to Romania."

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.**

"**Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.**

"No," said James sadly, "he hasn't."

"Don't worry," said Ginny comfortingly. "Starting next year he'll be at all the Harpy's games."

"Why?" asked Lily.

"I'll be a starting Chaser next year."

"**He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light – speedy – we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."**

"**I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. **_**Flattened **_**in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…"**

The Slytherins smirked.

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.**

"**I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."**

**Then she suddenly smiled. **

"**Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

"**You're **_**joking**_**."**

"No, she's not, I really am an excellent Quidditch player," said James proudly.

Fabian rolled his eyes. "It's a new conversation, you twit."

"Oh," said James, a little embarrassed.

**It was dinner time. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.**

"_**Seeker?" **_**he said. "But first years **_**never **_**– you must be the youngest house player on about –"**

"**- a century," said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me so."**

"Whoo!" said James loudly. "My son is the youngest house player in a century!"

**Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.**

"**I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."**

Remus snorted. "Half chance of _that _happening. It's almost impossible to keep secrets in _this _castle."

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry and hurried over.**

"**Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."**

"**I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred.**

Harry winced at that. Unbeknownst to him, he was noticed by his parents, Minerva and Albus.

"**We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

Harry snorted. "Yes, I can definitely see Oliver doing that."

Sirius snorted as well. "He sounds like James."

"**Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."**

"**Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."**

"First week?" Gideon sounded impressed. "We didn't find that until the end of our first month."

James nodded. "Same with the Marauders."

"Speaking of the Marauders," said Remus suddenly. "How come Peter isn't here?"

There was no mistaking the tension in that air that question caused. Harry tensed immediately and shook his head, refusing to say anything. However, he did reach over and grasp his parents' hands, as if to reassure himself that they were still there.

Neville shook his head and said softly, "It's not my right to say." And he refused to say more on the matter.

Ginny and Hermione looked at each other. In retrospect, they really should have anticipated this question. Hermione reached into her beaded bag and said, "Let me check something."

She pulled out a large stack of notes about the Marauders' time at Hogwarts and the First Wizarding War. She flipped through, looking for when they noticed that Peter wasn't around as much. She finally found what she was looking for and said, "It's fine, it won't happen for just over two more years, if we want Peter here."

The tension immediately lessened, though the people from the past were wondering what it was they were talking about.

"Sure," Ginny shrugged, "why not?"

Hermione nodded. "After this chapter, James, Sirius, and Remus can go get him, then."

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.**

"**Having a last meal, Potter?" When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"**

"**You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

"**I'd take you on any time on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose."**

"**Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling round.**

Lily groaned, "Please don't tell me this is going where I think it is."

Harry didn't respond.

"**I'm his second, who's yours?"**

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

"**Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."**

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.**

"**What **_**is **_**a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"**

"**Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "but people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."**

"**And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"**

"**Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.**

"**Excuse me."**

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.**

Hermione moaned and buried her face in her hands again.

"**Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.**

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.**

"Some things don't change," said Harry with a grin.

"Yeah," said Neville with a laugh, "you'd think that because they're dating now they'd stop their arguments."

"Give Hermione a break, they only just started dating last month," said Ginny, rolling her eyes. "She hasn't had enough time to really… _improve _my git of a brother."

"**I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –"**

"**Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

"**- and you **_**mustn't **_**go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."**

"**And it's really none of your business," said Harry.**

"**Goodbye," said Ron.**

"I just want to point out how hypocritical Hermione is being," said Harry with a straight face. "I mean, this is the girl that convinced me to help brew Polyjuice Potion, and used a time turner illegally. This is the girl who's probably broken every school rule you've heard of and most of the ones you haven't since they don't exist."

Neville glanced at Harry, "talking about The Toad's Decrees?"

Harry nodded.

Ginny said (and Neville was nodding in agreement), "I must agree with Harry. Hermione did break nearly all of The Toad's Decrees."

"What are The Toad's Decrees?" asked Regulus curiously.

"Well," said Harry with a grin on his face, "you'll have to wait until fifth book to figure that out."

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better doge it, because I can't remember how to block them." There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today.**

The Marauders, and twins snorted. Hermione frowned and said, "Well, I suppose you have a point, what with your Harry Potter luck."

The others in the Room looked confused, so she said, "When Harry's luck is good, there's nothing that can stop us. But when it's bad… it's really bad. You'll see what I mean pretty soon."

**On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness – this was his big chance to beat Malfoy face to face. He couldn't miss it.**

"You know, it wouldn't be out of the question for him to be sneaky and tell Filch where you are," said Severus. "He _is _a Slytherin, after all."

"**Half-past eleven," Ron muttered at last. "We'd better go."**

**They pulled on their dressing-gowns, picked up their wands and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase and into the Gryffindor common-room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the char nearest them: "I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."**

Hermione groaned again.

"That was you," said Amelia. It wasn't really a question.

Hermione nodded.

"I'll note you only mentioned Harry," said Frank. "Why?"

Hermione looked up and said, "I could believe that Ron would do it. Harry seemed much more, I don't know, rules conscious, I guess."

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink dressing-gown and a frown.**

"Hermione, you _detest _pink," said Ginny in amazement.

Hermione blushed. "That was mostly because of the combined effects of the Toad herself and living with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown for seven years."

"_**You!" **_**said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"**

"**I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped. "Percy – he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

Hermione groaned again.

**Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.**

"**Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.**

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

Hermione's head snapped up. "Harry Potter, I did NOT sound like an angry goose!"

"No offense Mione, but you really did," said Harry, shielding his head from any spells she might cast. Hermione just sighed and gestured for Fabian to continue reading.

"**Don't you **_**care **_**about Gryffindor, don you **_**only **_**care about yourselves, **_**I **_**don't want Slytherin to win the house cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

"**Go away."**

"**All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –"**

"Hermione, I hate to break it to you, but they aren't going to expel them just for being out after hours," said Alice.

Hermione blushed a little and said, "I know that _now, _but I was eleven then and still followed the rules."

Harry snorted. "The only reason you stopped following all the rules was because you became friends with us. We changed you."

"Unfortunately," Hermione muttered under her breath, although the whole Room heard her.

Harry put his hands over his chest, gasped and said, "Hermione! You wound me!"

When the laughter had died down, Fabian continued. Hermione and Ginny shared a glance. This was good for Harry. They hadn't seen him joke or make fun since… was it third year?

**But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting.**

"Oooh," said Frank, "tough luck."

"I hate it when she does that," said Remus. "She'll go for a chat with a painting on the other side of the castle, and then she'll get back and lecture you about being out after curfew, when she was the one who made you late!"

Minerva pulled out a parchment and began listing things that needed changing around the castle.

**The Fat Lady had gone on a night-time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.**

"**Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.**

"**That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."**

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.**

"**I'm coming with you," she said.**

James raised his eyebrows, "Didn't see that one coming."

"**You are **_**not.**_**"**

"**D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you and you can back me up."**

Sirius snorted, "He'll still put all of you in detention."

"**You've got some nerve –" said Ron loudly.**

"**Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something."**

Neville grinned.

**It was a sort of snuffling.**

"**Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

**It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville.**

Frank looked at his future son and said, "What _are _you doing out in the hall?"

**He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.**

"**Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours. I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."**

Alice blushed as all the past students looked at her. She was famous for doing the same thing.

"**Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

"**How's your arm?" said Harry.**

"**Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madame Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."**

"**Good – well, look Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later –"**

"**Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."**

"I wonder why he's all bloody," said Remus thoughtfully.

"I asked him once," said Sirius. "There's a reason people are scared of him."

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other. "We know," they chorused.

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.**

"**If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learnt that Curse fo the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you."**

**Hermione opened her mouth perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.**

Hermione blushed, "How did you know?"

Harry grinned, "Some things never change."

Then Neville asked, "Just out of curiosity, what were you thinking during all of this?"

"I was starting to wonder if we were going to end up bringing everyone in Gryffindor tower."

Hermione made a comment that made Harry and Neville pause for thought. "This was pretty stressful, being our first time sneaking out and all, but I thought the stress was way worse with the DA."

Neville shrugged and said, "I wasn't part of the inner circle, I wouldn't know."

Harry was thinking, "Yeah, it was because we were responsible for them being out and, since it was the Reign of the Toad, consequences were way worse than normal."

The people from the past didn't bother asking. They knew what the answer would be.

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoes towards the trophy room.**

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.**

"He's not coming," Regulus said flatly.

"**He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.**

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak – and it wasn't Malfoy.**

"**Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."**

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently towards the door away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.**

"**They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

"**This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified,**

Hermione winced.

**they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run – he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour.**

"Sorry about that," said Neville to Harry.

"It's not a problem, if it wasn't you it would have been Ron."

**The clanging and crashing was enough to wake the whole castle.**

"**RUN!" Harry yelled and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following – they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead without any idea where they were or where they were going.**

"That's the first rule to breaking the rules," Gideon told them. "Always have an escape route."

**They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.**

"The Charms classroom is near the forbidden corridor!" gasped Lily.

Everyone sat up a little straighter.

Ginny looked at her husband. "Tell me you didn't end up in the forbidden corridor."

Harry avoided her eyes.

"**I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

"**I – **_**told –**_** you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her side. "I – told – you."**

****"Not the best time," said Severus.

"**We've got to get back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."**

"**Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realise that, don't you? He was never going to meet you – Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."**

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.**

"Why not?" Hermione pouted.

"Your ego didn't need any more stroking, or that's what it seemed to me," said Harry softly, not looking at her.

"**Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.**

**It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

"**Shut up, Peeves – you'll get us thrown out."**

**Peeves cackled.**

"**Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

"**Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."**

"**Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."**

"**Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves – this was a big mistake.**

"No kidding," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"**STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**

**Ducking under Peeves they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door – and it was locked.**

"**This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're done for! This is the end!"**

"Bit dramatic, isn't he," commented Regulus with raised eyebrows.

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves' shouts.**

"**Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "**_**Alohomora!" **_

**The lock clicked and swung open – they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

"**Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."**

"**Say 'please'."**

"Good," said Remus, breathing a sigh of relief. "He won't tell Filch anything now."

"**Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.**

"**All right – **_**please."**_

"**NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

"**He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be OK – get **_**off, **_**Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's dressing-gown for the last minute. "**_**What?"**_

**Harry turned around – and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare – this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.**

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

**They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog which filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

"A CERBERUS! WHAT IS A _CERBERUS _DOING IN A SCHOOL!" yelled Lily. Those next to her, and Remus, winced away from her voice.

"You'll find out by the end, Mum," said Harry.

Fabian thought it best to continue reading before she started yelling again. That, and be grateful Molly wasn't there.

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.**

**Harry groped for the doorknob – between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.**

"Good choice," said Alice faintly. She was clutching Neville's hand to reassure herself that Neville was sitting next to her, not standing in the Forbidden corridor.

**They fell backwards – Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared – all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

"**Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their dressing-gowns hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.**

"She always asks, but she never gets an answer. She should really give up on asking," said James with a laugh.

"**Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common-room and collapsed, trembling into armchairs.**

**It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

"I spoke the next day," he said with a laugh.

"**What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

"See, Ron agrees with me," said Lily angrily.

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.**

"**You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"**

"**The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."**

"**No, **_**not **_**the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."**

**She stood up, glaring at them.**

"**I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

"Mione, I know you mean well, but how is getting expelled worse than getting killed?" asked Regulus curiously.

"At that time, I had no friends, and I buried myself in my studies so that I would ignore the obvious. Don't worry, I straightened myself out fairly soon."

Harry snorted. "It only took Halloween to do it."

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.**

"**No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"**

**But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something… What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide – except perhaps Hogwarts.**

"And when you're dealing with the Golden Trio," said Ginny mockingly.

"Shut up," said Hermione.

**It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Fabian.

Hermione stretched and said, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting stiff just sitting here."

"Why don't we take a fifteen minute break while we get Peter and then Severus can read the next chapter?" said Remus.

Everyone agreed, so people stood up and began to move around the Room, conversing with those who sat in different parts of the circle from them. Ginny, Hermione, and Neville made sure to take Harry aside to remind him that the Peter Pettigrew that betrayed his parents was _not_ the same Peter Pettigrew that would be joining them to read.

Meanwhile, the Marauders had made their way back to Gryffindor tower. After entering the Fat Lady's portrait, they climbed the dorm stairs and found Peter lying on his bed, reading his Transfiguration textbook.

Remus put up silencing charms and then said, "Hey Wormy, these people came from the future and want us to read these books on how to end the war. You want to come read with us?"

Peter looked up and said suspiciously, "You guys are pranking me, you have to be."

"I promise you, we're not," said Sirius. "Marauder's honour." Marauder's honour was a promise that the four Marauders created around second year. It was a promise they never broke. They made it because the four were famous for pranking, and if they ever had anything out of the ordinary to tell the others, they used the Marauder's honour promise to show that they were serious. (No pun intended.)

"Well, I guess so. Where were they again?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"In this room on the seventh floor called the Room of Requirement. It's wicked in there," said James. "Oh, and guess what?"

"What?"

"Lily and I are together now!"

"You're having me on."

"I'm not, Marauder's honour."

"Oh, shut up you two and let's get going," said Remus in exasperation.

On the way back to the Room of Requirement, the boys filled Peter in on what had already happened.

When they reached the Room, a new chair between Amelia and Remus appeared for Peter. Hermione handed him a snack bag and they sat down so Severus could read the next chapter.

(A/N: There we go, another update! Expect the next chapter in the next week; I already have most of it written. Thanks for any who've commented/favorited/followed both me and my stories.

**deant33: **That's an idea I hadn't considered. I might do that when we get to the third book.

**vrushali1306: **Thanks for reading! I think, once I've gone through all seven books, I'm going to write a sequel to the series that details the measures they take to change things. After that, I might do a sort of epilogue about Harry's Hogwarts years. I mean, he'll be around the Marauders growing up, there's no way he'll escape without a love of pranks!

Also, thanks to **Guest **for their review.

Happy reading!


	12. Chapter 12

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter Ten: Halloween**

"This chapter is titled, **Hallowe'en,**" Severus read in his baritone voice.

"Oh good," said Alice happily. 'What could go wrong on Hallowe'en?"

Harry looked at his fellow time travellers and voiced the thought they all had in their minds, "A lot."

**Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one.**

"Boys," Hermione huffed.

**In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.**

"**It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.**

"Or both," said James. Harry looked at him in surprise.

"**Or both," said Harry.**

James grinned at Harry and Harry grinned back, delighted to find some commonality with the thinking style of his father.

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.**

"Yes, that would make it hard," agreed Gideon.

"I bet it's the Philosopher's Stone," said Peter hesitantly. "That is that title of the book, after all."

**Neither Neville or Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.**

"At least you have self-preservation instincts, unlike Harry and Ron," said Lily forlornly.

**Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus.**

"Sorry," said Harry awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said dismissively.

**All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived with the post about a week later.**

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.**

**Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:**

_**DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE. It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one.**_

"It was pretty obvious it was a broomstick," said Neville.

_**Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session.**_

_**Professor M. McGonagall.**_

"That was the broom currently at the top of the line," said Harry with a little bit of sadness at the thought of his faithful broom.

**Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.**

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even **_**touched **_**one."**

**They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.**

"**That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."**

**Ron couldn't resist it.**

"Ron rarely can," muttered Ginny. The other time travellers nodded in agreement.

"**It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."**

"**What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."**

"He did leave himself open for that one," said Regulus.

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.**

"**Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.**

"**Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.**

"Tattle-tale," said Alice.

"**Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"**

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face.**

He had no such restraint now, however.

"**And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.**

"That's right, rub it in," said Sirius gleefully.

**Harry and Ron headed upstairs smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.**

"**Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team…"**

"**So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.**

"Don't take out your anger on the broomstick," said Fabian dramatically. "What did it ever do to you?"

"**I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.**

"**Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's been doing us so much good."  
**

**Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.**

"Let me just explain," said Hermione quickly. "I didn't really have friends growing up; the accidental magic drove them away. So I turned to books and studying to keep me sane. I was over the top about following the rules because some of the people at the Muggle school I went to would break the rules about stealing my things and such. They kept doing it because they were like Malfoy was: thinking they have politically powerful parents or a ton of money, so they can do whatever they want. I read all these books about Harry and heard other students talking about how the Potters were rich, so I assumed that Harry had grown up as a spoiled prince. I thought that was like those kids at my old school, and that was why he broke the rules. I couldn't have been more wrong," she finished, looking at Harry and pleading for understanding.

**Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch where he'd be learning to play that night. He bolted his dinner without noticing what he was eating-**

"Careful not to choke, Harry," said Lily motherly.

**-and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. **

"**Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick tolled on to Harry's bedspread.**

**Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and **_**Nimbus Two Thousand **_**written in Gold near the top.**

"Ron's right, that does warrant a 'wow,'" said James enviously.

"I wish I had it," said Sirius, and the other Quidditch players agreed with him.

Harry grinned, "If you think the Nimbus was amazing, wait until you hear about my next broom. And when the books are done, I'll let you each have a test flight on my current broom. Let me tell you, my first two brooms were _nothing _compared to my current one."

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. He'd never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.**

"That's what I thought too," said Lily.

**Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling – he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the pitch. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.**

"**Hey, Potter, come down!"**

**Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him.**

"**Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant … you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."**

"Oh, the days where practices were only three times a week instead of four, five, six, sometimes seven," said Harry fondly.

**He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.**

"**Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."**

"**Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football.**

"The ball from a Muggle sport," said Hermione before anyone could ask.

"**This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"**

"**The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited.**

"I'm a Chaser," said James quickly.

"So am I," said Frank.

"**So – that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"**

"**What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.**

"**Never mind," said Harry quickly.**

"**Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper – I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."**

"I play Keeper," said Sirius.

"**Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. OK, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.**

"**I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."**

**He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a rounders bat.**

"**I'm going to show what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."**

**He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.**

"**Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.**

**At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it breaking his nose and sent it zig-zagging away into the air – it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.**

"**See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team. The Weasley twins are ours – it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So – think you've got all that?"**

"We play as Beaters," said the Prewett twins.

"**Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.**

"**Very good," said Wood.**

"Of course he would be, he's a Potter - Quidditch is in his blood," said James.

"**Er – have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.**

Ginny snorted. "Yes, because you do _such _a good job of that," she said sarcastically.

"**Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle of the Bludgers – "**

"**- unless they crack my head open."**

"I dearly hope you were being sarcastic," said Ginny with narrowed eyes. Harry gulped.

"**Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers – I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."**

**Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.**

"_**This,"**_** said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win.**

"The key word there being _nearly_," said Harry with a smirk.

"What happened?" asked Frank quickly.

"World Cup of '93, you'll find out then," said Ginny.

The others groaned.

**That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages – I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep. **

"**Well, that's it – any questions?"**

**Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.**

"**We won't practise with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate. "It's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."**

**He pulled a bag of ordinary gold balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.**

**Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted.**

"How many were there?" asked Regulus.

Harry shrugged. "About thirty-five or so."

**After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.**

"**That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle.**

Harry winced.

"I'm guessing you didn't win the Cup, based on how much you're wincing," said Lily.

Harry nodded, looking guilty.

"**I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."  
**

**Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realised that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.**

**On Hallowe'en morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye).**

"Sorry," said Harry.

"It was the truth," Neville shrugged.

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.**

"**Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."**

"We tried that once," said Sirius conversationally. "It's not just something he uses to warn his classes – it really happens."

Minerva glared sternly. "What happened to the buffalo?"

"Well, we kept it in one of the dungeons for a while," said Remus, "don't worry we did feed it. Then we snuck out one night and let it lose in the Forbidden Forest."

Minerva just sighed and shook her head at them. Those boys would be the death of her!

**It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it – Harry had to put it out with his hat.**

"So there's a reason that they're part of the uniform," said Amelia with laughter in her eyes.

**Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.**

"_**Wingardium Leviosa**__**!**_**" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.**

Those in the Room burst out laughing at him.

"_**You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make**_** the 'gar' nice and long."**

"**You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.**

"Bad move there," said Alice, shaking her head at her cousin's son.

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "**_**Wingardium Leviosa!"**_

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.**

"**Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"**

**Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class.**

"**It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."**

"Let me guess," said Lily with a frown, "you heard them?"

"Yep," said Hermione sadly.

**Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. Harry caught a glimpse of her face – and was startled to see she was in tears.**

"**I think she heard you."**

"**So?" said Ron, but he looked uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."**

"Honestly, that git," said Ginny huffily.

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Hallowe'en decorations put Hermione out of their minds.**

"Nice to know you guys care _so _much," said Hermione sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Harry.

"Hey," said Harry, "give us a break, we weren't friends at this point."

**A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start of term banquet.**

**Harry was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."**

"HOW DID A _TROLL_ GET PAST THE WARDS!?" yelled Lily, although it was difficult to tell what she was saying, because Alice, Minerva, and Amelia were also yelling. The boys, Ginny, and Hermione felt it best to stay quiet and wait them out.

After fifteen minutes of yelling, the girls quieted, and Sirius said, "Hermione won't know about the troll, since she's in the bathroom."

**He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.**

"Faker," said Harry nastily.

**There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.**

"**Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"**

"Aren't the Slytherin and Hufflepuff dorms in the dungeons?" asked Frank.

"They would have gone to the library," said Minerva.

**Percy was in his element.**

"Of course he was," said Ginny.

"**Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"**

"**How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.**

"That's what we want to know," said Regulus.

"**Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Hallowe'en joke."**

"Peeves wouldn't – he knows his limits," said Albus.

**They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.**

"**I've just thought – Hermione."**

"**What about her?"**

"**She doesn't know about the troll."**

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Typically, it's Harry that thought of me."

**Ron bit his lip.**

"**Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."**

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.**

"**Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin.**

**Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.**

Severus sighed, "What am I doing?" he muttered in confusion.

"**What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"**

"**Search me."**

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.**

"**He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.**

"**Can you smell something?"**

**Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.**

"Gross," said Alice, wrinkling her nose.

**And then they heard it – a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.**

**It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.**

Lily gasped and clutched Harry's arm, reassuring herself that he was here, he was alright, this was all in the past.

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.**

"**The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."**

"**Good idea," said Ron nervously.**

_No,_ Harry thought now, _bad idea. Mione's in there._

**They edged towards the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it.**

"_**Yes!" **_

People in the Room of Requirement began to let out breaths of air they hadn't realised they'd been holding.

**Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream – and it was coming from the chamber they'd just chained up.**

Those who hadn't been there began to tense up again.

"**Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.**

"**It's the girls' toilets!" Harry gasped.**

"_**Hermione!" **_**they said together.**

**It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic – Harry pulled the door open – they ran inside.**

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint.**

"I was," said Hermione softly.

**The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.**

"**Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and seizing a tap he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.**

**The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.**

"**Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the ell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.**

"**Come on, run, **_**run!**_**" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.**

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.**

**Harry then did something that was both brave and very stupid:**

Ginny snorted. "When is something you do ever not brave and very stupid?" she asked rhetorically.

**he took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.**

**Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.**

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in a fright; Ron pulled out his own wand – not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: **_**"Wingardium **__**Leviosa**__**!" **_

"Oh yes, yell out the spell you _can't do!" _said James sarcastically.

**The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over – and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.**

James blinked. "I stand corrected."

**Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.**

**It was Hermione who spoke first.**

"**Is it – dead?"**

"Typically, she asks a question," said Ginny with a giggle. Hermione swatted at her friend and sent her a mock scowl.

"**I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out."**

**He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.**

"Harry James Potter, I do hope that you had that properly cleaned when you got back to the common-room?" said Lily with a raised eyebrow.

"I borrowed a kit from Neville," Harry said in response.

"**Urgh – troll bogies."**

**He wiped it on the troll's trousers.**

**A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.**

"Coward," said Gideon.

"How did you ever survive with _him _as your Defense teacher?" said Fabian.

"It wasn't easy," said Harry.

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.**

Sirius whistled. "That is pretty bad. We've only gotten there once."

**Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.**

"**What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"**

**Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his want down.**

**Then a small voice came out of the shadows.**

"**Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."**

"**Miss Granger!"**

**Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.**

"**I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."**

**Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?**

"**If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."**

**Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.**

"You failed miserably," Hermione informed Harry.

"**Well – in that case…" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"**

**Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.**

There were chuckles around the Room at that analogy.

"**Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."**

**Hermione left.**

**Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.**

"**Well, I still say you were lucky, but not to many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."**

**They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.**

"**We should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.**

"**Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."**

"**Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we **_**did **_**save her."**

"She might not have needed saving if Ron hadn't insulted her," said Amelia.

"**She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.**

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.**

"**Pig snout," they said and entered.**

**The common-room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.**

**But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.**

"So… you three became friends because you fought a mountain troll together?" said James slowly. Hermione nodded sheepishly.

Harry just grinned and said, "The friends that fight together, stay together."

"Harry James Potter! I forbid you from fighting mountain trolls again!" said his mother loudly. Harry nodded, thinking it pointless to mention that he'd already done this.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Severus, passing the book to Sirius, who passed it on to his brother.

"I've already read," he explained to the curious looks.

A/N: There we go, another chapter down. We're over half way there folks! I can't believe how far we've gotten. Thank you to all those who've favorited/followed both me and my stories and to those who've reviewed.

**hpandthemaraudersrock: **Thanks for the idea, I think that would be awesome as well!

**Turner'sGirl: **Thanks for the review and yes, I am aware that I suck at updating. That was mostly just because life kept getting in the way. It's summer now, though, so I should be able to devote a lot more of my time to writing.

Thanks to **Ryuuohjin, sabrina-luna-potter, **and **god of all**__for their reviews.

One last thing, I'm going to try and update weekly, but be warned there will be some weeks where that won't happen. My goal is to try and finish the first book by September and at least start the second one. It might not happen, but I will try.

Also, if you're looking for a story similar to A Stitch in Time, try checking Rewind Prisoner by katraj0908. So far, only the first chapter has been posted, but I think it's great so far and I really recommend that you give it a read.

Happy reading!


	13. Chapter 13

A Stitch in Time

_**Summary:**_ So now Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice, Frank, Severus, Regulus, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore are in the Room of Requirement. Hermione and Ginny are there to and have all seven Harry Potter books with them. Now they are reading them together. How did this happen? Read to find out! Curl up, relax and enjoy!

_**Disclaimer: **_Do I look like J.K. Rowling? Nope, I don't think so. This also means (sigh), that I don't own Harry Potter. All of the characters, places, and events that you recognize belong to her, not me.

**Bold= text from the book**

Normal= comments made by the 1977 readers.

**Chapter Eleven: Quidditch**

Regulus chuckled as he looked at the chapter title. His brother looked over his shoulder and laughed as well. "This is a good one for you," Sirius said.

"What is it?" asked Frank curiously.

**Chapter eleven: Quidditch **read Regulus.

**As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves and enormous beaver skin boots.**

**The Quidditch season had begun.**

Quidditch fans (Peter, James, Harry, Frank, Alice, Gideon, Fabian, Sirius, Regulus, Minerva, Ginny, and Amelia) cheered.

**On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.**

"Those are always the best matches to watch," said Alice excitedly.

**If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship. Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret.**

Amelia snorted. "Fat chance of that," she said.

"It's been known to happen once in a while," said Harry. "We're fairly good at it."

"Especially during fifth and seventh years," said Neville.

**But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse – people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him holding a mattress.**

**It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn't know how he'd have got through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do.**

Hermione mock scowled at Harry. "Nice to know what your uses are," she said.

Harry muttered an apology.

**She had also lent him **_**Quidditch through the Ages, **_**which turned out to be a very interesting read.**

**Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch fowl and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473;**

"What I wouldn't give to have been there," said James wistfully.

**that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that the most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara desert.**

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it.**

"No," moaned Lily. "You're supposed to encourage them _not _to break rules."

Hermione smiled a little and said, "Sorry?"

**The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire which could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard.**

"Great," said Severus, "what was that git doing now?"

**Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.**

"As usual," muttered Harry.

"**What's that you've got there, Potter?"**

**It was **_**Quidditch through the Ages. **_**Harry showed him.**

"**Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."**

"Really, Sev, that's not even a rule," said Lily, glaring at him.

He winced (Lily's glares were fierce!) and looked away. "Sorry."

"So that's where Harry gets his glaring from," said Ginny conversationally. Harry turned his fame glare at her. She returned his gaze unflinchingly. "See what I mean?"

"**He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"**

"**Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.**

**The Gryffindor common-room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ("How will you learn?"), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.**

Lily sighed, "At least you tried."

Hermione shrugged. "Someone had to. If I didn't, they probably would have failed."

Harry smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I knew all of the stuff the teachers were talking about; I just downplayed my own abilities." When he got incredulous looks, he elaborated. "It was a habit left over from the Dursleys. If I got better marks than Dudley, I was punished. So, when I got to Hogwarts, the habit continued. I eventually decided to just keep hiding my abilities. It was easier that way, plus I could surprise enemies who thought I was average or below average."

Harry finally noticed the stares he was receiving and blushed.

**Harry felt restless. He wanted **_**Quidditch through the Ages **_**back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it.**

**"Rather you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening.**

**He made his way down to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing.**

**Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes.**

"What?" asked James eagerly.

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone.**

The Marauders, Prewett twins, and Severus looked disgusted.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees.**

"Eeek – my eyes!" moaned Sirius.

**One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.**

"Oh, that's better. Why couldn't you just say that? It would have spared me the mental images," Sirius said to Harry.

"**Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"**

Amelia gasped. "He's trying to get past the dog!"

**Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but – **

"**POTTER!"**

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.**

"**I just wondered if I could have my book back."**

"**GET OUT! **_**OUT!"**_

**Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs.**

"**Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?"**

**In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen.**

"**You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en! That' where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick **_**he **_**let the troll in, to make a diversion!"**

"Ron really should have taken that bet," said Hermione with a laugh.

**Hermione's eyes were wide.**

"**No – he wouldn't." she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."**

"I was so naïve," moaned Hermione.

"**Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"**

"It has to be the Philosopher's Stone," said Remus. "But I still don't know what that is."

**Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind – he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

"The expression on an angry Snape is never easy to forget," squeaked Peter.

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

"**You've got to eat some breakfast."**

"**I don't want anything."**

"Ah, first game nerves," said James wisely.

"**Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.**

"**I'm not hungry."**

**Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking on to the pitch.**

"**Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."**

"That's not something you tell someone before their first game," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"**Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

**By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.**

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large Gryffindor banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said **_**Potter for President**_** and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Ten Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours.**

"That's quite advanced for a first year," said Minerva.

**Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green).**

**Wood cleared his throat for silence.**

"**OK, men," he said.**

"**And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.**

"**And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."**

"**The big one," said Fred Weasley.**

"**The one we've all been waiting for," said George.**

"**We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry. "We were on the team last year."**

"**Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."  
**

**He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."**

"**Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."**

**Harry followed Fred and George out of the changing room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked on to the pitch to loud cheers.**

**Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.**

"**Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.**

"Not likely, probably just a lot of pure blood inbreeding," Regulus interrupted himself.

**Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing **_**Potter for President**_** over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.**

"Glad we could help," Hermione said with a satisfied smile.

"**Mount your brooms, please."**

**Harry clambered on to his Nimbus Two Thousand.**

**Madame Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.**

**Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.**

"**And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"**

**"JORDAN!"**

"**Sorry, Professor."**

Everyone in the Room laughed and Fabian said, "I like this guy."

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.**

"**And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good friend of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc – no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and Gryffindor take the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by Slytherin – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – doges a speeding Bludger – the goal posts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"**

The Gryffindors in the Room cheered.

**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.**

"**Budge up there, move along."**

"**Hagrid!"**

**Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.**

"**Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars round his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"**

"**Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."**

"**Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was Harry.**

**Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.**

"**Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."**

"Sound thinking," Regulus approved before continuing to read.

**When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings.**

"So that's what you were doing," said Hermione with a chuckle.

**Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. One he caught sight of a flash of gold but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannon ball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.**

"**All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously towards Marcus Flint.**

"**Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying.**

The Gryffindors in the Room groaned.

"**Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"**

Quidditch fans in the Room held their breath with excitement.

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.**

"Idiots," muttered James. "You _never _let _anything _distract you from scoring."

**Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it too. Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch – all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.**

**Harry was faster than Higgs – he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead – he put on an extra spurt of speed –**

**WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below – Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose and Harry's broom span off course, Harry holding on for dear life.**

"**Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.**

**Madame Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.**

"Which is what he was after," said Frank angrily.

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"**

"**This isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send people off in Quidditch – and what's a red card?"**

**But Hagrid was on Dean's side.**

"**They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."**

**Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.**

"**So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –"**

"**Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.**

"**I mean, after that open and revolting foul –"**

"_**Jordan, I'm warning you –"**_

"**All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure,**

Those in the Room laughed.

**so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession.**

**It was as Harry dodged another Bludger which went spinning dangerously past his head that it happened. His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and his knees. He'd never felt anything like that.**

"What's happening?" Lily yelled, looking at Harry sitting next to her worriedly.

"Don't worry, Mum, it's fine," Harry soothed.

Lily looked at him anxiously and nodded at Regulus to continue reading.

**It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Harry tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goal posts; he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time out – and then he realised that his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zig-zagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements which almost unseated him.**

Lily grabbed Harry's left hand while James grabbed his right.

**Lee was still commentating.**

"**Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor -**

There was laughter (a little more subdued than the last time) again. "He's got guts, I'll give him that," said Gideon.

**Slytherin score – oh no…"**

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking a twitching as it went.**

"How did _nobody _notice this?" Alice asked Hermione angrily. Hermione shrugged.

"**Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared though his binoculars. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…"**

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.**

Lily gripped Harry's hand tighter. Harry winced slightly, but didn't comment. If he were in his mother's position, he would need to hold onto something tangible to remind himself that he survived.

"**Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.**

"**Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."**

**At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.**

"**What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.**

"**I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape – look."**

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath.**

"**HE's doing something – jinxing the broom," said Hermione.**

"**What should we do?"**

"**Leave it to me."**

"What did you do?" asked a pale James.

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.**

"Cheating prick," said Severus. He didn't like people who didn't work for what they earned.

"**Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.**

**Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell head first into the row in front. **

Remus narrowed his eyes. Quirrell was being mentioned far too often for his liking. He was going to pay attention to him.

**Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes.**

**It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened.**

**It was enough.**

Everyone in the Room let out a sigh of relief at that. Lily and James released their grips on Harry's hand.

**Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.**

"**Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.**

**Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick – he hit the pitch on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into his hand.**

"No way," James started laughing. "You caught the Snitch in your _mouth?"_

Harry just nodded.

"**I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.**

"**He didn't **_**catch **_**it, he nearly **_**swallowed **_**it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference – Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the result – Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though. He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione.**

"**It was Snape," Ron was explaining. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."**

"**Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"**

**Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.**

"**I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."**

**Hagrid dropped the teapot.**

"**How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.**

"_**Fluffy?" **_

"**Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –"**

"**Yes?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."**

"**But Snape's trying to **_**steal **_**it."**

"**Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."**

"**So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.**

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.**

"**I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"**

"Doing the counter-curse for a jinx requires constant eye-contact as well, you know," said Minerva.

Hermione blushed. "I hadn't gotten there in the book yet."

"**I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's gaurdin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –"**

"**Aha!" said Harry. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"**

**Hagrid looked furious with himself.**

"That's the chapter," said Regulus, handing the book to Albus.

"There shouldn't be many chapters left," said Hermione. "How about we finish this book tonight and start the second one tomorrow?"

There were nods of agreement, and Albus opened the book.

**Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Erised**

A/N: Here we go, finally! I know, I know, after saying I'm going to update more frequently I disappear for weeks. I'm sorry. The only excuse I have is that I have a life outside of fan fiction, as strange as that sounds…

Anyway, thanks to all who have favorited/followed/reviewed!

**sabrina-luna-potter: **Ron won't join for a while, probably not until the second or third book.

**Turner'sGirl: **First off, thanks for the review! Second, Ron will join, but not until the second or third book.

**Penny is wise: **Thanks for the review! I would like to include neutral Slytherins, but if I do (which I may not, and not any time soon, simply because I don't know if I can handle all the characters) it won't be until after I include Ron.

**gaz4life167: **Thank you for the review! I only plan on including Ron, he will likely be the last character I include for that reason.

Thanks also to **deant33, Ryuuohijn, aphroditeswell, The Icechild, Guest, Avid Reader0907, Crystal (Guest), Guest, **and** Jessica1210 (Guest) **for their reviews.

Also, just so everyone knows, I _will _be including Ron, but not until the second or third book. I feel that the reading has been interrupted with new characters enough for the next little while. Also, Hermione and Harry still haven't fully forgiven him for abandoning them on the hunt, so they don't want to see him for a while.

Anyway, happy reading!


End file.
